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Haitians Await List of Presidential Candidates

   Brian Wagner | Miami 20 August 2010

   Haitian  voters  waited  Friday  for election officials to release the
   list  of  candidates  approved  to  run  in  the November presidential
   election.  Some  voters  feared U.S.-based singer Wyclef Jean would be
   left off the ballot.
   United  Nations  troops  and Haitian police guarded the offices of the
   electoral council in Port-au-Prince on Friday, as voters waited to see
   the list of candidates for president.
   Election  officials delayed the release earlier this week, saying they
   wanted  more  time  to  study the eligibility of the 34 people who are
   seeking to run.
   Supporters of U.S.-based singer Wyclef Jean said they feared he may be
   disqualified  from  the  race  because  of  a  legal  requirement that
   candidates maintain a residence in Haiti.
   As  a child, Jean moved with his family to the United States, where he
   launched  his music career. But lawyers for the 40-year-old singer say
   they filed papers showing he meets the eligibility rules.
   Whether  or  not  he  is  allowed  to  run,  the  singer has generated
   considerable interest in Haiti and elsewhere about the November vote.
   Hyppolite  Pierre runs a consulting group in Maryland that focusses on
   human  rights  and  development issues in Haiti. He says many Haitians
   embrace  Jean  because  of  a charity he founded in Haiti. "People are
   looking  for  someone who can bring not just stability but confidence.
   And because of Wyclef's charity work in Haiti and [the fact] he is not
   associated  with  the  system in general, he connects much easier with
   the general population, with the poor," she said.
   Other  top candidates seeking the presidency are former prime minister
   Jacques  Edouard  Alexis  and  Jude  Celestin,  who has the backing of
   President Rene Preval's Unity party.
   The  biggest  issue  for all candidates is likely to be the monumental
   task  of  rebuilding  after a January earthquake that hit the capital,
   killing 230,000 people.
   At  a  May  conference,  foreign  governments and other donors pledged
   nearly  $10  billion for recovery and reconstruction efforts. The next
   president  will  have  to  work  closely  with a newly formed recovery
   commission that includes Haitian officials, foreign advisors and donor
   partners.
   Hyppolite  Pierre  says  some  candidates will be eager to show voters
   they  can foster a close relationship with the recovery commission. "I
   don't  think  they  have  much  of  a  choice, because you don't run a
   country  unless there is an economy going. And that is going to be the
   major  engine of the Haitian economy, at least for the next five to 10
   years," she said.
   Yves  Colon,  a former journalist who now teaches at the University of
   Miami,  says  many candidates may want to keep the recovery commission
   at  arm's  length,  at  least during the campaign. He says nationalism
   often  plays  a key role in Haitian elections, and candidates may seek
   to  convince  voters  that  foreign interests do not have too strong a
   voice in the next administration.
   After  the  vote, he says the next government will face new challenges
   in  working  with  the  recovery  commission  that  issues  rebuilding
   contracts.  "Once these things have already been awarded, what happens
   now? What can this president do, and what kind of voice is he going to
   have in the affairs of the states?"
   One  key  task  of  rebuilding  is  to  find  new homes for government
   buildings   that   were  damaged  in  the  earthquake,  including  the
   presidential palace.

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