Wyclef Jean: Next President of Haiti?

Perhaps his song "If I Was President" was a harbinger of things to come: Singer and Croix-des-Bouquets native Wyclef Jean is considering a bid for Haiti's presidency to succeed René Préval, who cannot run for reelection. A statement signed by "the Jean family" emailed to reporters 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 ... If and when a decision is made, media will be alerted immediately." While Jean has not been entirely explicit about his presidential ambitious, he has made it clear that he will be a part of Haiti's political life in attempting to galvanize its young voters. "Do I have political intentions? At this time no," he said in a recent interview. “But what I do have is a movement—it's called…'Face to Face'... The youth population... we are going to encourage them to vote." If he does run, he may have a tough time winning over voters' trust, in light of revelations this year that his Yele Haiti Foundation had been involved in shady financial dealings, and had even paid Jean to perform at fundraisers after the massive earthquake that devastated the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation.