UPDATE TWO: Wyclef Jean announced Sunday via Twitter that he would appeal the decision of the Haitian Electoral Council to disallow his run for president of the Caribbean nation. Jean said later in a statement that he would seek a solution through "legal channels."

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UPDATE ONE: The Haitian Electoral Council  announced Friday night that Wyclef Jean's candidacy for president has been rejected. Jean has accepted the decision and urged his supporters to respond peacefully in a blog post.

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In the convoluted world of Haitian politics, a seemingly mundane issue has risen above ideology and policy platforms as the most debated topic in the run-up to the November 28 presidential elections: residency.  For Wyclef Jean, arguably the country’s most famous export and an outspoken advocate for Haiti in the international community, the issue has caused a hiccup in his bid to become Haiti’s next president.

Jean, who moved with his family to the United States when he was 9-years-old, announced his candidacy for president on August 5 despite not meeting the Constitutionally mandated residency requirement of five consecutive years in-country.

An announcement is expected today by the Haitian electoral council on whether or not Jean will be among the approved candidates for president.  An unnamed member of the council yesterday told Reuters that Wyclef Jean’s name is absent from the official list, but that report has not been officially confirmed. 

For now, Jean’s campaign – and his thousands of supporters -- have little choice but to wait until the official list is released.

Here in Los Angeles, the Haitian-American community has rallied behind Jean.

Georges Laguerre, a Haitian-American business owner in Los Angeles, thinks Jean would bring positive international attention to Haiti.  He would represent a new beginning, said Laguerre, and, “after 200-some years, who we have had running the government of Haiti has not resulted in any improvement. Why not try something new?”

(LISTEN to the full interview with Laguerre, pictured to the right, at the bottom of this page.)

In the interest of the public good, Laguerre suggests that the electoral commission “closes its eyes” on the residency issue.  “This is the time to break the rules,” he said.

Carline McGrue, a Haitian-American child development specialist in Los Angeles, shared Laguerre’s sentiment.  With little visible progress on the ground seven months after the quake in January, McGrue says that “Haiti needs somebody who can help.”

“[Jean] knows that we need roads, education, medical supplies.  His focus is going forward, and I am 100 percent behind him,” she said, adding that “it will be really unfortunate if something like residency brought him down, because he's got good things in store for Haiti.”

As Haiti and the expatriate community scattered across the globe wait on the official decision regarding Jean’s eligibility to run for president, one thing is clear: Jean has used his hip-hop and his celebrity to inspire a younger generation to be proud of Haiti, despite its woeful reputation as the poorest country of the Western hemisphere.

Laguerre’s son, a 19-year-old who proudly displays the Haitian flag in his bedroom, has never been to Haiti. Despite this, he has a photo of Jean next to his red Ferrari with the license plate “#1 Haitian” and reminds his father to celebrate Toussaint L'Ouverture Day – a commemoration of the leader of the Haitian Revolution. He looks up to Jean as an idol, says Laguerre, and is better connected to the ancient history of the tiny Caribbean island because of it.

In Los Angeles, far removed from the halls of the Haitian electoral council where a decision on Jean’s eligibility is being debated, there are generations of Haitians for whom the idea of President Jean represents their best hope for the future.

 

Reach reporter Mary Slosson here.

Follow her on Twitter here.