ARTICLE - SWEET MICKY'S CAMPAIGN

MUSIC TURNS SERIOUS IN SWEET MICKY'S HAITI CAMPAIGN
(Miami Herald) - By Jacqueline Charles

Michel `Sweet Micky' Martelly has gone from musician to contender in Sunday's presidential elections in Haiti.

CARREFOUR, Haiti -- Wrapped in the Haitian flag, the rude boy of konpa music sashays across the stage as thousands of fans wave posters. The self-appointed president of a konpa nation then reaches back a dozen years for ``A Little Morale.''

``Corn and rice are luxury items in a country while the people are idle and wilting,'' he sings, the pink- and white-clad crowd begging for more. ``Let's rise up and see if we can change life. You need to know what you want and where you want to go.''

A popular musician whose candidacy in Sunday's presidential elections was initially considered a joke, he is gaining momentum as he steps out of his Sweet Micky alter-ego and introduces Haitians to Michel Joseph Martelly.

The stoic, French-speaking Martelly is also getting attention from the international community as he lays out his vision, telling Haitians that he's ``not a politician'' but a worker for social change.

His vision and his strong showing during a recent televised debate against more well-educated rivals, say observers, has made the 49-year-old Martelly a potential spoiler in a tight race. If none of the 19 candidates get more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will compete in a Jan. 16 runoff.

``He has shown himself to be a smart communicator and campaigner...despite his lack of experience,'' said Robert Maguire, a Haiti expert at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.
Jean-Junior Joseph, a Haitian politics blogger, said Martelly's strong support among the working and middle class cannot be discounted.

They identify, he said, with his background as someone who grew up in Carrefour, a sprawling low- and middle-income suburb of Port-au-Prince, attended one of Haiti's most prestigious schools, Saint-Louis de Gonzague, and achieved his dream of living in the rich hills of Petionville.

``Martelly is a pure middle class icon,'' Joseph said.

Martelly's name has consistently been mentioned in the top tier of various presidential polls, even as he dismisses them. A poll by his own U.S.-based campaign consultants shows him virtually tied with President René Préval's pick, Jude Célestin, and opposition leader Mirlande Manigat far outpacing both of them.

That has made Manigat his focus.

``Can you trust her?'' Martelly said, pointing out that she betrayed voters when she pulled out of a Senate runoff in 2006 in protest over her husband, former President Leslie Manigat's loss to Préval. ``She is everything that the public is not. I am everything that they are.''

Manigat said while she's not a fan of Sweet Micky's vulgar-laced lyrics, she has been impressed with Martelly, who has lived part-time in South Florida.

Still, questions remain about Martelly: can someone whose life has been on the musical stage make a successful leap to managing a country in crisis? And will Haitians want someone best known as an entertainer to lead them through the present morass?

``Martelly is asking Haitians to make a very large leap of faith,'' said Maguire.

While Sweet Micky is known for mooning audiences in a pink thong while dressed in drag, Martelly is the smooth-talking, Hugo Boss-wearing married father of four with a social conscience.

Sometimes, the two meet such as on a Friday afternoon here when thousands waved pink posters featuring a photo of a suit-clad Martelly while peering onto the stage at the T-shirt-wearing candidate.

He was all Sweet Micky -- even his words took on a lyrical rhythm.

``A lot of people are saying Michel Martelly cannot do it, he cannot govern,'' he said to the roaring crowd. ``I already know that I can't save Haiti all by myself. I know I need a bunch of experts with me, guys who are better than me, who are as good as me and who love their country and want to deliver for it.

``And even after you have done that, you need to win the people's trust. You need the people to tolerate you. Otherwise the people will stand in front of you and you will never be able to do anything. And then you need a leader that the people love.''

He repeats, ``You need a leader that the people?''

``Love,'' responds the crowd.

As Sweet Micky, the musician has been in public life for 22 years, putting konpa music back on the map. But as Martelly, he drums home that he's one of the few candidates not associated with any government. Still, he has used his music to protest and support regimes, some of them led by Haitian paramilitary strongmen.

His controversial past has made it difficult for some to rally behind him. But others are embracing his platform of free education, tourism promotion and boosting agriculture to cut down on expensive imports.

But like most of his fellow rivals, Martelly's messages fall short on the strategy for tackling the nation's problems. For example, he doesn't detail how he plans to provide free education in a country where the national budget is $2 billion.

``What I see is someone who wants to defend the interest of the Haitian people,'' said Richard Morse, his cousin and lead singer of the band RAM.

Many fans agree, saying they would eagerly vote for Martelly on Sunday.

``I'm voting [for] the bald-headed one,'' said Wadsen Joseph, 18, in Cap-Haitien on Wednesday, moments after picking up his voter registration card. ``We believe in him. He will give us programs. I like Sweet Micky, but I'm impressed by Michel Martelly.''

Martelly says on the trail that he's running ``a grassroots campaign.'' But he has invested heavily in large billboards, foreign consultants and glossy handouts.

And he's not above playing hard-ball. His supporters have been rally crashers, invading Célestin's rallies and and mounting a Twitter and SMS campaign against him. Martelly also has publicly accused the government of using public funds to rent a helicopter for Célestin, saying ``they don't have money to fight cholera but they have money for helicopters and planes.''

Célestin did not reply to messages seeking comment. Haitian Finance Minister Ronald Baudin said it's regrettable Martelly would make ``such serious accusations without providing any evidence at a time when we are making progress in financial management.''

``The only expenses we made were to finance the [Provisional Electoral Council] and all political parties involved in the electoral race on a fair and transparent basis,'' he said.

Several years ago, Martelly and his wife Sophia founded a homespun charity, Rose and Blanc Foundation. The foundation has allowed him to come face-to-face with the misery of Haiti's masses, taking him into many of the tent cities that have popped up since the January earthquake.

But it was not his late-night visits to the camps that pushed him to run for president, he said. It was government inaction after a donor offered his foundation 30,000 homes, he said.

Government officials ``never identified the land to give me,'' he said. ``I felt like, `Wow, if I were in power, I would start building those houses and take the people out of the tents.' ''

Although he's campaigning hard, Martelly has said that Sunday's election should be postponed because of the cholera outbreak, which has claimed more than 1,400 lives. So far, Préval has ignored those calls.

``The Haitian people do not laugh anymore, there is so much misery,'' Martelly said. ``I don't think it's right for a population to stop dreaming. When a population is being denied the right to dream, you are approaching a catastrophe and we are near that catastrophe.''