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Following the 2010 earthquake, Martelly ran for President of Haiti in the ]general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. He benefited from his celebrity status as a musician, and held musical rallies called koudjay (musical political endorsement rallies), drawing crowds and media attention. He also benefited from the support of Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
(UN Special Envoy to Haiti) and the active support of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. He challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On 3 February 2011, it was announced that he would participate in a run-off election scheduled for 20 March 2011. On 4 April 2011, a senior official announced that Martelly had won the presidential run-off election against candidate Mirlande Manigat
Mirlande Manigat (born Mirlande Hyppolite in Miragoâne, on November 3, 1940) is a Haitian constitutional law professor and candidate in the 2010 presidential election. She is the widow of former president Leslie Manigat and briefly served as Fir ...
with more than 60% of the vote.[Archibald, Randal C]
Popular Carnival Singer Is Elected President of Haiti in a Landslide
"The New York Times". 4 April 2011. Retrieved on 4 April 2011.Amongts the Core Group Nations of Haiti, some of their ambassadors notably the Secretary of the State of the U.S. during the Obama administration former first First Lady Hillary Clinton decided that Maretlly was the winner.
Presidency
After the devastating earthquake, Martelly was sworn in as President of Haiti
The president of Haiti ( ht, Prezidan peyi Ayiti, french: Président d'Haïti), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (french: link=no, Président de la République d'Haïti, ht, link=no, Prezidan Repiblik Ayiti), is the head ...
on 14 May 2011, marking the first time in Haitian history that an incumbent president peacefully transferred power
A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...
to a member of the opposition. On the anniversary of the earthquake, the incumbent Haitian Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive
Jean-Max Bellerive (born 1958) is a Haitian politician and former Prime Minister of Haiti. He resigned on 14 May 2011.
Biography Personal life
Bellerive was born in Port-au-Prince in 1958. As the son of a prominent doctor, he left Haiti at a ver ...
, resigned to allow Martelly to choose his own Prime Minister. Martelly was quick to pledge reforms for the post-earthquake reconstruction process.
In August 2011, Martelly announced a plan to reinstate the nation's military. This plan was controversial as many human rights activists were concerned about the return of a military responsible for many atrocities in the past.
In September 2011, Martelly formed an advisory board that included business executives, bankers, and politicians such as former U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, which he hoped would improve the economy.
In February 2012, Martelly's Prime Minister Garry Conille
Dr. Garry Conille (born 26 February 1966) is a Haitian academic, development worker, author, and former Prime Minister of Haiti. He submitted his resignation as prime minister on 24 February 2012, and was officially succeeded by Laurent Lamothe on ...
resigned after having been in office five months. He was replaced in May by Laurent Lamothe
Laurent Salvador Lamothe (born 14 August 1972) is a Haitian businessman, technology entrepreneur, and political figure who has served in the government of Haiti as Foreign Minister since October 2011, then appointed as Prime Minister on 4 May 20 ...
, the Haitian Foreign Minister.
Between March and April 2012, Martelly was accused of corruption, with allegations that during and after the 2010 earthquake and presidential election, he had accepted $2.6 million in bribes to ensure that a Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
construction company would continue to receive contracts under his presidency. Martelly denied the allegations. Companies owned or controlled by Félix Bautista
Félix Ramón Bautista Rosario (born 16 June 1963) is a Dominican Republic member of the Senate of the Dominican Republic since 2010. In the period 1996-2000 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State, t ...
had received no-bid contracts worth $200 million, awarded by former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive
Jean-Max Bellerive (born 1958) is a Haitian politician and former Prime Minister of Haiti. He resigned on 14 May 2011.
Biography Personal life
Bellerive was born in Port-au-Prince in 1958. As the son of a prominent doctor, he left Haiti at a ver ...
. In October 2013, Martelly met with a Franco-Polish arms dealer Pierre Dadak Pierre Konrad Dadak (born 1976) is a Franco-Polish fraudster and confirmed arms dealer. He was convicted of fraud in France on 29 October 2010 and in Spain on 25 February 2022.
Early life
Dadak was born in Paris in 1976 to Polish immigrants. He h ...
and two Canadian businessmen to discuss a $20 billion plan to develop Île-à-Vache
Île-à-Vache, (French, also expressed Île-à-Vaches, former Spanish name Isla Vaca; all translate to Cow Island) is a Caribbean island, one of Haiti's satellite islands. It lies in the Baie de Cayes about off the coast of the country's south ...
, a plan which came to nothing, but has the source of some controversy. In November 2013, anti-government protests were held in the country over the high cost of living and corruption.
Mid-term Senate elections had been originally due in May 2012, while the municipal poll was three years behind schedule. They were again postponed on 26 October 2014—the day they were due to be held—because of an ongoing stalemate between the government and a group of opposition senators over an electoral law. The Haitian government faced months of protests over the delayed elections. Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe
Laurent Salvador Lamothe (born 14 August 1972) is a Haitian businessman, technology entrepreneur, and political figure who has served in the government of Haiti as Foreign Minister since October 2011, then appointed as Prime Minister on 4 May 20 ...
resigned on 14 December and was replaced by Evans Paul
Evans Paul (born 25 November 1955), also known as Compère Plume; shortened as K-Plume (KP), is a Haitian people, Haitian politician and former president of the Democratic United Committee. He was elected mayor of Port-au-Prince in the 1990 electio ...
. But street protests continued, with renewed calls for the president's resignation.
On 13 January 2015, the parliament was dissolved after its term expired and four days later, thousands of protesters in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
again demanded the president's resignation. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd. Martelly urged protesters to respect public order and said he had reached a deal with the opposition to form a consensus government within the next 48 hours. New election dates were announced in March 2015, both for parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and for president. Martelly was ineligible to run again as Haiti's constitution does not allow for consecutive terms.
On 9 August 2015, the first election Haiti had under President Michel Martelly took place. The citizens voted in the first round to fill two-thirds of the 30-member Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and the entire 119-member Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. In the capital, groups of young men ripped up paper ballots as heavily armed police shot into the air to re-establish order. Rocks were thrown in response before authorities closed the polling station. Local media reported the closure of numerous polling places in other parts of the country and scattered arrests of people accused of voting more than once. 54 polling stations, roughly 5 percent of the total, were closed amid violence and other disruptions. The first round of Haiti's presidential election was scheduled for 25 October 2015.
Presidential elections were held in Haiti on 25 October 2015, alongside local elections and the second round of the legislative elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. The runoff of this election were scheduled for 27 December 2015. According to preliminary results posted by the Provisional Electoral Council, Jovenel Moïse
Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian entrepreneur and politician, who served as the 43rd President of Haiti from 2017 until his assassination in 2021. He was sworn in as president in February 2017 after winning the ...
obtained 32.81% of the preferences, and Jude Célestin
Jude Célestin (born June 19, 1962 in Port-au-Prince) is a Haitian politician who was one of two presidential candidates heading off to the second round in the 2015 presidential election race. After an education in Port-au-Prince, Célestin stud ...
won 25.27%.
After the preliminary results were published on 25 October 2015, Jude Célestin said he did not recognize them. His criticism was joined by five other presidential candidates. They issued a joint statement denouncing the results as "anti-democratic" and called for the people's vote to be respected. Martelly openly declared his support for Moïse. The supporters of Célestin protested in the streets, together with the supporters of Jean-Charles Moïse
Jean-Charles Moïse (born 20 April 1967) is a Haitian politician. He is the Secretary General of the Pitit Desalin political party, and was a candidate for President of Haiti in 2015, and again in 2016, when the presidential elections were re ...
's ''Platfom Pitit Desalin'' and supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...
's Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas ( en, Lavalas Family, Lavalas is Haitian Creole for ''flood''), is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1 ...
party the presidential candidate of which, Maryse Narcisse
Maryse Narcisse (born 1958) is a Haitian politician. She was a candidate in the 2016–17 presidential election, representing the Fanmi Lavalas party.
Biography
Maryse Narcisse was born in Pétion-Ville. She is the daughter of Denise Péan Na ...
, finished fourth behind Jean-Charles Moïse and also denounced the results during a news conference. The protesters threw rocks and burned tires. The police responded with tear gas and made some arrests. The police also stopped and searched the vehicle of a former top government prosecutor, Claudy Gassant, who is a supporter of Moïse.
Martelly resigned the presidency on 10 February 2016, leaving Haiti without a president for a week. On 17 February 2016, he was succeeded by Jocelerme Privert
Jocelerme Privert (; born 1 February 1953) is a Haitian accountant and bureaucrat who served as the interim President of Haiti from 2016 to 2017.
Political career
Early political career
A longtime politician, he first served as the economics ...
who served as interim president. Amid allegations of fraud in the 2015 elections, Privert created a month-long verification commission to restore legitimacy to the electoral process. In May 2016, the commission audited ~13,000 ballots and determined that the elections had been dishonest and recommended a complete redo of the election.
In 2015, Pras
Prakazrel Samuel Michel (; born October 19, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two ...
of the Fugees
Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its ...
completed a documentary entitled ''Sweet Micky for President'' and directed by Ben Patterson. The film chronicles the rise of Martelly through his election to fight corruption as President of Haiti. The film had its World premiere at the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival and later appeared on Showtime.
Canadian Government Sanctions Against Martelly
On 17 November 2022, the Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
imposed joint sanctions against Martelly and former Prime Ministers Laurent Lamothe
Laurent Salvador Lamothe (born 14 August 1972) is a Haitian businessman, technology entrepreneur, and political figure who has served in the government of Haiti as Foreign Minister since October 2011, then appointed as Prime Minister on 4 May 20 ...
and Jean Henry Ceant. The sanctions against Martelly was a response to his allegedly involvement in "gross and systematic human rights violations in Haiti." Specifically Martelly is accused of supporting violent armed gangs in Haiti that terrorize the population. A "tormented" Martelly was seen returning to Haiti from Miami 24 hours before the sanctions were publicly announced, traveling with nine pieces of luggage.
A press release by the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
mentioned that Martelly is "suspected of protecting and enabling the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs.
Personal life and later music career
Martelly divorced his first wife, an American citizen, in 1986.
Martelly has a brother, Girard, who served in the United States Armed Forces.
Martelly currently lives in Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, but held several homes in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
. He lives with his wife and former manager, Sophia Saint–Rémy, and their four children, Olivier, Sandro, Yani, and Malaika. In 2006, Martelly announced his unofficial retirement from recording and performing, but two years later announced a return to music with a new single, ''Magouyè'', and the video/short film, "Bandi Legal yo ki rive". He is a cousin of Port-au-Prince hotel manager and musician Richard Morse.
In April 2012, Martelly was flown to the United States for treatment of what was later diagnosed as a pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...
.[Jaqueline Charles, '']Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'', 25 April 2012
Haiti president says he came close to death
/ref> It was attributed to the immobilisation of his arm necessitated by recent shoulder surgery.[Jaqueline Charles, '']Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'', 17 April 2012
As Haitian President Martelly recuperates in Miami, armed ex-soldiers stormed parliament grounds
/ref>
Discography
References
External links
Official website
Music
Sweet Micky: ''Mon Colonel''
music video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martelly, Michel
1961 births
2010s in Haiti
21st-century Haitian politicians
Grand Crosses with Silver Breast Star of the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella
20th-century Haitian male singers
Haitian people of Mulatto descent
Living people
People from Port-au-Prince
Presidents of Haiti
Repons Peyizan politicians
Haitian expatriates in the United States
21st-century Haitian male singers