Wyclef Jean for President

Wyclef is considering running for president of his home country of Haiti.

According to CNN, the former Fugee has already filled in all the relevant paperwork in order to run as a candidate in this year's elections.

He also admitted in an interview with the US network that "I can't sing forever."

A statement from the rapper's camp read: "Wyclef's commitment to his homeland and its youth is boundless, and he will remain its greatest supporter regardless of whether he is part of the government moving forward.

"At this time, Wyclef Jean has not announced his intent to run for Haitian president. If and when a decision is made, media will be alerted immediately."

Wyclef has long been active politically within his country, being an ambassador-at-large since 2007, and through his charitable foundation Yele Haiti, which has been building temporary shelters since the earthquake in January

Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean plans to run for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti and will announce his candidacy in the next few days, a former parliament leader has revealed.

Former Chamber of Deputies leader Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques told journalists the Haiti-born hip hop artist and former Fugees frontman will run as part of his coalition in the 28 November election.

Jean's brother, Samuel, later confirmed that the singer would announce his intentions in a televised interview from Haiti on Thursday after filing required documents with the electoral council.

Jean's spokeswoman confirmed that the entertainer planned to make an announcement on Thursday but said she did not know specifics. She added that Jean was preparing a political communications team.

Dozens of candidates are expected to compete for the presidency, among them Jean's uncle Raymond Joseph, who is Haiti's ambassador in Washington. Other likely candidates include former prime ministers, mayors and another popular Haitian musician, Michel "sweet Micky" Martelly.

Jean-Jacques said Jean would be a candidate for a new coalition that calls itself "Ansanm Nou Fo", which translates as "together we are strong" in Creole.

Wyclef Jean has admitted that he risks being assassinated while campaigning in the slums of Haiti to become president of the country.

The musician, who claims that he was inspired to run for office after witnessing the devastating effects of the January earthquake in his native country, confessed that he will fear for his safety when he eventually goes on the campaign trail as Haiti has a history of political violence.

However, the former Fugees star argued that his ideals and aspirations are worth endangering his life for.

"You have two choices," he explained to Contact Music. "Either sit back thinking of the danger or do something to move your country forward.

"Assassination is always a possibility but I'd rather die trying to achieve something than die doing nothing... I'm telling you right now, brother, I'm going to fight for the rights of the Haitian people so they can get their justice.

"At times, to be honest, I think, 'What am I doing?' But I can hear the voice of youth drafting me. When I'm on the ground, they say to me, 'Clef, you're our last hope.' They feel close to me because I speak their language."

Jean's controversial presidential campaign has already received criticism in the last week from Hollywood star Sean Penn and fellow Fugees member Pras Michel.

Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean is not on the list of approved candidates for the Haitian presidential election, officials have said.

A member of the provisional electoral council said: "He is not on the list as I speak", adding that the country's electoral disputes bureau had ruled Jean's candidacy does not meet several legal requirements.

The provisional electoral council is due to formally publish the list of approved candidates later.

Singer-songwriter Jean, 40, who is widely popular in his impoverished and earthquake-ravaged homeland, filed documents with the council this month to run as a candidate for the November election.

He was among 34 contenders for the presidency who filed initial candidacy bids.

Shortly after Wyclef Jean officially announced last night his bid to become president of Haiti, Sean Penn went on the attack, telling CNN he is “suspicious” of Jean’s motives.

Penn, an activist who has spent most of his time in Haiti since the January earthquake, alleges that the former Fugees member “as an ambassador at large, has been virtually silent” since the quake.

“For those of us in Haiti, he has been a non-presence,” Penn griped, adding that he thinks Jean is “an important voice,” but hopes “he doesn’t sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground.”

The actor says the nation where Jean was born “is clearly vulnerable.”

He also pointed out that Yelé Haiti, a charitable organization founded by Jean in 2004, has been accused of financial misconduct.

“He claims he didn’t do it. That has to be looked into it,” said Penn. “I’ve been [in Haiti]. I know what $400,000 could do for these people’s lives.”

In response to Penn’s claims, Jean told the Associated Press, “I just want Sean Penn to fully understand I am a Haitian, born in Haiti and I’ve been coming to my country ever since [I was] a child. He might just want to pick up the phone and meet, so he fully understands the man.”

Elections to replace current Haiti president Rene Preval will be held on November 28.

Wyclef Jean has announced via Twitter that he plans to appeal his disqualification from the presidential race in Haiti.

It was confirmed on Friday that the CEP, the country's provisional electoral council, had rejected the former Fugees star's bid to run for office, but the 40-year-old took to the social networking website this morning to state his intention to fight the ban.

"Tomorrow our lawyers are appealing the decision of the CEP," Jean wrote. "We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be respected."

E! News claims that Jean is planning to appeal on grounds that the committee threw out his presidential bid before Haiti's national electoral dispute office could rule whether the singer's absence from the country rendered him ineligible to campaign.

The CEP has yet to elaborate on the reasoning behind their decision, but the fact that Jean has not resided in the island nation for five years has previously been touted as a potential issue.

A ruling barring Wyclef Jean from running for Haiti's presidency is final and cannot be appealed, an electoral council lawyer says.

The 40-year-old hip-hop star has said he will appeal after the council said he was not eligible to stand in November polls.

The Haitian constitution requires candidates to have lived in the country for five years prior to an election.

Mr Jean lives in the US, but says he has been a roving ambassador for Haiti.

He argues that this exempts him from the residency requirement.
'It's over'

Samuel Pierre, from the electoral council's legal department, said that according to article 191 of the country's electoral law, decisions by the election authority's disputes tribunal cannot be challenged.

"Therefore, there is absolutely no possibility for Wyclef Jean to be added to the list of candidates approved to run in the next presidential elections," Mr Pierre told Reuters news agency.

"So it's over," he said.

The country is the poorest in the region, and still recovering from January's earthquake, which killed an estimated 230,000 people and left more than one million homeless.

Following the ruling on Friday, Mr Jean issued a statement saying he accepted the decision but did not agree with it.

But he later told reporters that he was refusing to give up and would challenge the ruling in court.

On Tuesday, in an interview with MSNBC, he said he had presented documents demonstrating that he met all the requirements, and alleged that the electoral council was corrupt.

He said potential rivals did not want him to run.

Mr Jean was one of 15 candidates disqualified from running in polls which will elect a successor to President Rene Preval.

BBC News

Haitian hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has released a song to local radio stations criticising officials who have banned him from running for president.

The track, performed in Haitian Creole, translates as Jail for the Provisional Electoral Council and accuses President Rene Preval of engineering the singer's disqualification from the running.

"It's not Wyclef that you have expelled, it is the youth you have denied," the 40-year-old sings.

Mr Preval has not commented.

His spokesman said he had been told of the song's existence.

Jean, who has also posted the song on Twitter, sings: "I know all the cards are in your hands. I voted for you to be president in 2006, why today did you reject my candidacy?"
Residency requirement

Last week, the Haitian constitution ruled Jean and 14 other contenders out.

The rules require candidates to have lived in the country for five years prior to an election.

Jean lives in the US, but says he has been a roving ambassador for Haiti.

He argues that this exempts him from the residency requirement.

The star appealed against the ruling, but an electoral council lawyer said the decision was final.

Haiti is still recovering from January's earthquake which killed an estimated 230,000 people and left more than one million homeless.

BBC News

Wyclef Jean has reportedly struck back at Sean Penn after the actor criticised Jean's bid to become Haiti's president.

MTV reports that during his set at Hot 97's 'On The Reggae Tip' event in New York City on Friday, the rapper suggested that he and Penn did not meet in the wake of Haiti's earthquake because the actor was taking drugs.

"I got a message for Sean Penn: Maybe he ain't see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine," Jean stated.

The 'Gone Till November' singer further responded to his former Fugees bandmate Pras, who also publicly criticised the musician's bid for public office.

"I got a message for Praswell, even though you don't want to support me, I got love for you, even though you only kicked eight bars in the Fugees."

It was previously reported that Haiti's electoral commission ruled that Jean is ineligible to campaign for the country's highest office.

Hip hop artist Wyclef Jean was treated and released from a hospital in Haiti after receiving a minor gunshot wound to the hand during a campaign rally.

Jean, who was in Port-au-Prince to support fellow musician and Haiti presidential candidate Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, was shot Saturday night on the eve of the country's presidential elections.

Following the incident, a rep tweeted on his account, "We have spoken to Wyclef, he is ok. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers -- Management"

Spokeswoman Cindy Tanenbaum reassured CNN that the wound was superficial. "He is doing well," she added.

Jean, a Haiti native, runs Yele Haiti, a foundation focussed on providing aid and relief to the nation still recovering from a devastating January 2010 earthquake. He briefly pursued a bid to be president of Haiti in September, but was ruled ineligible by election officials.

Reuters