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TechnoratiWyclef Jean calls for calm after presidential disappointment
Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean will not be one of the 19 candidates in Haiti’s presidential election. The election commission on Thursday evening barred Jean and 14 other hopefuls from standing.
Jean failed to make the grade because he has not lived in Haiti for the last five years, as the law requires. The commission was not impressed by his argument that “home is where the heart is”.
Jean left Haiti at the age of nine and spends most of his time in the US, although his family has a home in Port-au-Prince.
"Though I disagree with the ruling, I respectfully accept the committee's final decision, and I urge my supporters to do the same," Jean said in a statement released after the ruling was
announced.
Jean’s opponents, including actor Sean Penn, have questioned his commitment to the country and there has been criticism of the management of his Yele Haiti charity but he enjoys support among many younger Haitians.
Despite Jean’s appeal for calm, there may be violent protests at the commission’s decision, RFI correspdondent Amélie Baron reports from Port-au-Prince.
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