Valiant Effort, Wyclef Jean. But Now It's Time to Move On

To those of us who have familiarized ourselves with Haitian law, it came as no big surprise when the announcement was made by Haiti's electoral council late Friday night that Wyclef Jean had been disqualified as a candidate for president of Haiti. Though no official explanation was given for the rejection of his candidacy, Jean himself contended that it was because he did not meet the requirement of having lived in the country for five consecutive years before the election.

As I wrote earlier this month, that was only one of a number of reasons stacked up against the hip-hop star's candidacy. His inability to speak French or Creole fluently, the manner in which he announced his candidacy, and the questions surrounding his charity, Yéle Haiti, were all matters of concern about his ability to lead the devastated country. But it seemed that all of those trepidations could be put to ease with Friday night's announcement.

Wyclef himself even took the news quite well. Though he had said in an interview earlier this month that he believed he met the eligibility requirements for a presidential candidate, his initial statement said that he accepted the decision and urged his followers to respond "peacefully and responsibly to this disappointment." It looked like we were all ready to move on.

But then came the tweet.

At 11am on Sunday, Wyclef sent a Twitter message to his followers, announcing that he was not accepting the ruling made by the electoral council. "Tomorrow our Lawyers are appealing the decision of the CEP. We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be Respected," he declared.

If your reaction was anything like mine, it went something like this: Huh?

Though he hasn't provided much more information than what he could type in 140 characters and write in a somewhat vague statement to his supporters, it seems that the singer believes that he should not be disqualified on the grounds of residency. According to statements he has made in the past, he is a good-will ambassador of Haiti, appointed by President Préval, and as such he has a mandate to rove the world. According to Jean, even though he hasn't lived in Haiti for five straight years, he never abandoned his Haitian citizenship. He still holds a Haitian passport, and he only has a green card allowing him legal permanent residency in the U.S. — meaning he's not a full-blown U.S. citizen.

Whether or not Wyclef's reasoning is valid, he needs to understand one thing — at this point, he isn't helping Haiti.  In a country notorious for its corrupt government, the only way to bring about true change will be for the Haitian people to choose a leader willing to play by the rules. Someone who is willing to side-step one of the requirements for candidacy doesn't seem like that person.

And given that an election council spokesman has already said that there is no legal mechanism for contesting an election eligibility decision, it looks like Wyclef will be fighting a legally messy, uphill battle.

As someone who claims to want to unite the Haitian people in their struggles and victories, it seems to me that Wyclef should step down gracefully now, before the anger and frustration building in Haiti turns into violence.

Photo Credit:mandamonium