Carnival Musician Michel Martelly Elected President of Haiti

Results of last month’s Haiti presidential runoff show that carnival musician Michel Martelly has the upper hand over former first lady Mirlande Manigat. According to a spokesman for Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council, Martelly took sixty-seven percent of the vote while Manigat received thirty-one percent.The preliminary results were delayed by a week due to fraud problems.

Martelly used to have a bad boy image as the singer “Sweet Mickey”. But he managed to take care of his family and educate his children during his off-stage time.

The runoff vote was held March twentieth with no major problems occurring. There were initial concerns that the return of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide would disrupt the vote. He arrived in Haiti two days before the vote but has not endorsed a candidate so far.

If no changes occur, Martelly will have multiple challenges to deal with. The impoverished country has had trouble rebuilding after last year’s earthquake and cholera epidemic.

Final results of the vote are scheduled to be announced on April sixteenth.