ARTICLE - POP SINGER TO PRESIDENT

THE FORMER POP SINGER WHO COULD BE HAITI'S PRESIDENT
(Miami Herald) - By Trenton Daniel

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Hours after Haiti’s electoral council announced that Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly was heading to a runoff with former first lady Mirlande Manigat in the presidential vote, the former pop singer sat down with a small group of reporters from the foreign press corps, including The Miami Herald.

In the Jimmy Buffett suite at the Hotel Oloffson, the fabled inn managed by Martelly’s cousin Richard Morse, Martelly sat in a white wicker basket chair. Wearing a dark suit with a burgundy tie and a Haiti flag pin, the candidate sipped a Coke as he held court.

Q) Last month you said your campaign was broke.

A) Still broke.

Q) Now that you’re in a position where you have to go and campaign again, are you worried about getting the resources?

A) Not at all. As a matter of fact, I got in that situation because people did not believe in me, at first. Now, they have realized that the people of Haiti are with me, I’m pretty sure that money will start flowing as early as today. We will have money at this time, because they realize that we have money, that we have potential, that we are in the second round. As of today, we have a 50 percent chance of becoming the next president of the country. They are starting to take me seriously. So we don’t worry about money — not at all. Even when we did not have money, we did not worry. Thanks to our campaign we found the right strategy.

Q) If you were to win, can you give us a sense of what your vision for the first six months would be?

A) First of all you said, “if I were to win. . .” Well, I’m here to win. When I win, we will focus on moving people out of the tents. The cholera issue. Agriculture. Where we have other areas where we need change that don’t require a lot of money. Eradicating corruption. Allowing the judiciary system to follow its course. Reinforce the authority of the state. Let the police do their job. These are very important in Haiti. For example, bandits have been arrested and the forces let them go because they work for certain people. Things like that need to change. So you can start working and make people feel confident. But you got to understand how much money is available. Job creation is part of the economic plan.

Q) Who is funding your campaign [led by political strategists from OstosSola, a Spanish consulting firm that worked for John McCain in his 2008 presidential bid]?

A) They are here. They are paid by people who believe in us. But who do not want to give us the money. Friends from out of Haiti, the States who decided to give us support.

Q) Who exactly?

A)You talk to them.

Q) What do you say about your past during the de facto years in the early 1990s when you ran with members of the FRAPH paramilitary group?

A) I don’t think it’s an issue, as far as I’m concerned. I’m concerned about Haiti, about the future of my country. I think every human being has made a mistake in the past, I don’t know even what mistake we’re talking about. I would talk about my attitude on stage. That’s mainly what someone could talk about. Only my attitude on stage. As I stated downstairs, I have been a clean man. I’ve never been involved in monkey business. Everyday something new appears on my behalf, talking about coup e’tat. And this and that. It’s mainly people opposing Michel Martelly talking about these stories. But I feel confident. Believe me, I don’t feel good talking about these questions anymore. I allow everyone to go and look on the Internet, look in my past, look at what I’ve done wrong.

Q You raised questions about the Provisional Electoral Council, or CEP, and fraud and lack of credibility. Now that they’ve put you in the second round, do you think they’ve proved themselves to be credible?

A) They have just followed the people’s will. But they are not more credible for that. What I will say on the CEP is that our campaign is consulting, they are working on it. Within the next 24 hours, we should have our position on what exact step needs to be taken as far as the CEP is concerned.

Q) Typically, human-rights prosecutions need a strong state, a strong backing from executive leaders. What priority will you give the prosecution of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier for his misappropriation of funds and human-rights violations?

A) This has to do with judiciary. I have nothing to do with it. If they have something against him, he needs to answer to them. I’m not going to stand on anybody’s side who has a problem with the justice system.

Q) What do you plan to do with the housing impasse and issues of land-tenure?

A) There’s a huge piece of land that’s been given to the people by Route Neuf and the road that goes to the north. There they could have built nice lodging instead of giving the land to the people and let them build another slum. There’s no project. There’s no plan. There’s no concern.
There’s no good faith. Besides that there are people who want to do good. The money’s here. We need public servants. We need people who come to the government to the serve the Haitian people, not to be a chief or to have money or people who are looking for a job. We need people who want to invest their time, their heart in Haiti. People who are doers.