Artist News

Haitian court says no to Jean’s presidential plans, he will appeal

By | Published on Monday 23 August 2010

Wyclef Jean has said he will appeal a court ruling made late last week that banned him from running for the presidency of his home country Haiti.

As previously reported, Jean announced earlier this month his intent to run in the upcoming Haitian elections. However, his plans to stand needed court approval because the former Fugee does not pass requirements in the country’s constitution regarding presidential candidates, mainly regarding citizenship and being resident in Haiti for five years before running. Being a US citizen and being mainly based in America also went against him.

The musician argued that his past work representing Haiti on the international stage should allow him to circumvent the constitutional requirements to stand, but last week the relevant court in Haiti – the ‘election board’ – disagreed and blocked his application to stand.  

Jean confirmed to the Associated Press this weekend that his lawyers were preparing to appeal that ruling. He added that he was convinced his legal case for being able to stand was sound, and that last week’s court ruling was politically motivated. He also argued that it was wrong of the election board to rule on his plans to stand on Friday before the country’s National Electoral Dispute Office had ruled on the residency issue.



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