Wyclef Jean posted this photo on his Twitter account of him shaking hands with Haiti's President Rene Preval hours after their Aug. 29 meeting
*Wyclef Jean met with Haitian President Rene Preval for more than two hours on Thursday, touching off a new round of speculation as to whether the singer will be allowed to run for president in the Nov. 28 elections, reports the Associated Press.
Jean said he felt the pow-wow was positive.
“I feel good,” the rapper and former Fugees member said. “I feel that the president that I voted for five years ago is the same person that was sitting in front of me today.”
He said he was hopeful that an electoral council weighing his candidacy will rule that he can run.
“It looks like it’s leaning that way,” he said.
Several hours after the meeting, Jean posted a photo on his Twitter account of him shaking hands with Preval, who is not allowed to run for re-election.
Earlier in the week, Jean said he had received death threats. Jean said Preval expressed concern and offered him security.
The singer and several dozen other presidential hopefuls are scheduled to find out today if the country’s electoral council allows them to run for office.
It’s really about time someone asks what is really going on in Haiti, when it comes to deciding who can and who cannot run for office. Starting with Lavalas, why are they still banned? Why is Aristide not able to come home? I don’t expect Obama to lead this charge, but for the amount of aid which America g gives Haiti, there should be some questions. Everyone, including Bill Clinton as UN chief special envoy to Haiti, needs to step up to the plate and ask questions. Wyclef himself been dodging the issue for a while, but I bet he won’t be able to anymore when they reject his bid for presidency.
I don’t really expect much from the Obama admin, but it should be Hillary Clinton’s job as secretary of state to sound off. Maybe the Congressional Black Caucus should feel some obligation to do something, since it was partially due to their desire to resolve a problem which made things got even worse. It was when they naively asked Bush to intervene in the violence threatening the presidency of Aristide, that Bush took it upon himself to remove Aristide, which led to these anti-democratic elements taking over.
As Jean Saint-Vil, the Ottawa-based Haitian writer and activist said, “the very fact that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family have to stay in South Africa during this period of need of Haiti tells you that what is being reinforced in Haiti is not democracy, but rather the rule by minority, so that the interests of the rich Haitians can be protected, like you saw in those reports.”