Martelly Wins Haitian Election

The Washington Post reports:

Iconoclastic carnival singer Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, a stirring orator and political novice, won Haiti’s presidential runoff in a landslide, according to preliminary results issued Monday by electoral council officials.

Before he entered politics last year, Martelly was one of Haiti’s most popular acts, known for wild stage shows in which he dressed in drag and won over huge crowds with bawdy, biting lyrics.

The 50-year-old entertainer transformed himself in the public eye into a successful businessman and campaigned for president in smart suits, hired Washington political consultants and addressed Haitians, especially the young, in a language of aspiration and frustration that they could understand.

Martelly was helped along by support from Haitian expatriate and hip-hop impresario Wyclef Jean, who was shot in the hand on the eve of the March 20 runoff.

Martelly received nearly 68 percent of the vote, electoral council spokesman Pierre Thibault said — a total that easily put him past Mirlande Manigat, the 70-year-old Sorbonne-trained scholar, opposition politician and former first lady of Haiti. Her husband, Leslie Manigat, was tossed out in a military coup in 1988 after four months in office.

Thibault’s announcement was immediately followed by noisy celebration in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The Associated Press reported that thousands of Martelly supporters poured into the city’s streets and that a singing and chanting crowd marched to his house.

Martelly will take over in May from the unpopular Rene Preval, widely seen as a cryptic leader who failed to inspire after last year’s devastating earthquake.

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