Wyclef to run for Haiti president

SINGER Wyclef Jean is about to announce his candidacy for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the former head of the country’s Chamber of Deputies has said.

Former deputy Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques told The Associated Press the hip-hop artist will run as part of his coalition in the November 28 election.

Jean’s spokeswoman Cindy Tanenbaum declined to confirm the report. She said the singer planned to make an announcement tonight in Haiti but declined to say what it would be.

Jean-Jacques, who will be seeking toreturn to the Chamber of Deputies in the election, said he will be a candidate for a new coalition that calls itself Ansanm Nou Fo, which translates as “together we are strong” in Creole.

“Yes, we have an agreement (with Jean). But he’s the one who has to announce it first,” Jean-Jacques said, declining to elaborate on their political plans.

Jean is popular in Haiti for his music and for his work through his charity Yele Haiti, which raised millions after the January 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people and knocked down most of the government ministries and many of the homes in the capital.

Rumours have swirled for months that Jean would run for president. The singer has always been careful not to rule out a run for the office and recorded a song, If I Was President. The 37-year-old was born outside Port-au-Prince but left as a child and grew up in Brooklyn. Dozens of candidates are expected to compete among them Jean’s uncle Raymond Joseph, who is Haiti’s ambassador in Washington.