Martelly turns page to deliver for Haiti
Source: Agencies |
April 7, 2011, Thursday
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HAITI'S pop star president-elect is making the media rounds to thank voters for his easy election victory while showing off a persona considerably toned down from his extravagant bad-boy days on stage.
With Haitians wondering how the charismatic Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly will approach governing, he showed up in a conservative gray suit yesterday to hold his first news conference a day after election results were announced.
As he did on the campaign trail, the 50-year-old Martelly avoided any specifics about how he would lead, but appeared as far as possible from his outrageous stage persona as he spoke of reconciliation with political opponents and improving the lives of people in the most desperate, star-crossed nation in the Western Hemisphere.
"I would like to say first that I have always had the desire to change my country," he said. "I have a passion to change my country."
Haiti is confronting daunting challenges on numerous fronts, including the stalled reconstruction from the January 2010 earthquake, a cholera outbreak, hundreds of thousands of homeless and more than half the population unemployed.
Asked about his priorities for his first three months in office, Martelly, who has never held office, dodged the question like a seasoned politician: "Our common sense tells us that in the 100-day period, we will barely have the time to build a small house."
A few hours after his news conference in Port-au-Prince, Martelly made visits at several radio stations in the capital to meet with owners and staff. Radio is the prime source of news for Haitians, because they can use battery-powered radios during the country's frequent power outages.
"It was a courtesy meeting," said Mario Viau, director general of the privately run Signal FM, the first stop on Martelly's media victory lap. "He wanted to show the importance of the press."
Martelly is best known for his wild antics as a popular performer playing "compas," Haiti's high-energy, slowed-down version of merengue. His shows - he started in the mid-1980s and reached the height of his career in the '90s - became legendary, for he was a bona fide provocateur. As the self-proclaimed "bad boy of compas," he donned diapers and dresses, mooned the audience, cursed his rivals and spouted obscenities.
But his outsider image apparently resonated with voters. Haiti's electoral council said late on Monday that preliminary results showed he captured nearly 68 percent of the vote in the March 20 runoff against Mirlande Manigat, a former senator and first lady.
With Haitians wondering how the charismatic Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly will approach governing, he showed up in a conservative gray suit yesterday to hold his first news conference a day after election results were announced.
As he did on the campaign trail, the 50-year-old Martelly avoided any specifics about how he would lead, but appeared as far as possible from his outrageous stage persona as he spoke of reconciliation with political opponents and improving the lives of people in the most desperate, star-crossed nation in the Western Hemisphere.
"I would like to say first that I have always had the desire to change my country," he said. "I have a passion to change my country."
Haiti is confronting daunting challenges on numerous fronts, including the stalled reconstruction from the January 2010 earthquake, a cholera outbreak, hundreds of thousands of homeless and more than half the population unemployed.
Asked about his priorities for his first three months in office, Martelly, who has never held office, dodged the question like a seasoned politician: "Our common sense tells us that in the 100-day period, we will barely have the time to build a small house."
A few hours after his news conference in Port-au-Prince, Martelly made visits at several radio stations in the capital to meet with owners and staff. Radio is the prime source of news for Haitians, because they can use battery-powered radios during the country's frequent power outages.
"It was a courtesy meeting," said Mario Viau, director general of the privately run Signal FM, the first stop on Martelly's media victory lap. "He wanted to show the importance of the press."
Martelly is best known for his wild antics as a popular performer playing "compas," Haiti's high-energy, slowed-down version of merengue. His shows - he started in the mid-1980s and reached the height of his career in the '90s - became legendary, for he was a bona fide provocateur. As the self-proclaimed "bad boy of compas," he donned diapers and dresses, mooned the audience, cursed his rivals and spouted obscenities.
But his outsider image apparently resonated with voters. Haiti's electoral council said late on Monday that preliminary results showed he captured nearly 68 percent of the vote in the March 20 runoff against Mirlande Manigat, a former senator and first lady.
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