PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 21, (AFP) - International Hip-Hop star Wycleff Jean cannot run in Haiti's November presidential election, the country's electoral council said late Friday after a meeting.
Jean was among 10 presidential candidates who faced challenges to their bids, and there were concerns he might not meet residency requirements because he lives primarily in the United States.
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| Wycleff Jean |
He also faces questions about US back taxes. But Jean is hugely popular among Haiti's youth, and some 300 of his supporters marched in heavy rain outside the country's electoral office Thursday.
Jean's music career took off in the mid-1990s as a member of The Fugees, whose biggest hit was a cover version of Roberta Flack's “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”
As a rapper and producer, he later rose to worldwide fame for his work with Colombian pop star Shakira, most notably in the 2006 mega hit “Hips Don't Lie.” -- Little is known about his political leanings. His bid to run for president energized many young Haitians drawn to his celebrity success and political outsider status. But it also rattled Haiti's political elite.
-- Jean cast his candidacy as a chance to use his fame to lure more international aid and foreign investment to Haiti as it struggles with rebuilding efforts after a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people. |
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