Wyclef Cannot Appeal Haiti`s Election Council Ruling

CaribWorldNews, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Weds. Aug. 25, 2010: Haitian-born Grammy Award-winning singer, Wyclef Jean, cannot appeal his disqualification from the upcoming Presidential election in his homeland.

That`s the word from the country`s provisional electoral council. A lawyer from the council said Tuesday that the council`s ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

Samuel Pierre of the council`s legal department told Reuters that, under article 191 of Haiti`s electoral law, rulings by the election authority`s disputes tribunal are definitive and cannot be appealed.

`Therefore there is absolutely no possibility for Wyclef Jean to be added to the list of candidates approved to run in the next presidential elections,` Pierre said. `So it`s over.`

Jean, after initially accepting his disqualification late Friday, said on Sunday he would appeal the decision which rejected his candidacy for the November 28 election.

But Council officials said Jean, who left his homeland with his family at the age of 9 to live in the United States, failed to meet residency requirements. His uncle, former Haiti ambassador to the U.S., Ray Joseph, was also disqualified, along with several other candidates.

Jean, 40, was among 34 presidential candidates vying for a spot in the election to choose a successor to President Rene Preval, who cannot run again after two terms. The council only approved 19 candidates and rejected 15 others.

Singer Sweet Mikey, whose real name is Michel Martelly, is among the 19 approved candidates, along with Axan Delson Abellard of the Konbit Nasyonal pour Devlopman (KNDA) party; Jacques Édouard Alexis of the Mobilisation pour le Progrès d`Haïti (MPH) party; Jean Hector Anacacis of the Mouvement Démocratique de la Jeunesse Haïtienne (MODEJHA); Charles Henry Jean-Marie Baker of Respè; Josette Bijou an Indépendant; Gérard Marie Necker Blot of the Platfòm 16 Désanm; Jean Henry Céant of Renmen Ayiti; Jude Célestin of INITE; Eric Charles of the PRNH; Yves Christallin of the Oganizasyon Lavni Wilson Jeudy of Fòs 2010; Jean Chavannes Jeune of the Alliance chrétienne citoyenne pour la reconstruction d`Haïti (ACCRHA); Léon J. Jeune of Konbit Liberation Ekonomik (KLE); Génard Joseph of Groupement Solidarité; Garaudy Laguerre of WOZO; Mirlande Hyppolite Manigat of Rassemblement des Démocrates Nationaux Progressistes (RDNP); Yvon Neptune of Ayisyen pou Ayiti and Leslie Voltaire of Plateforme Ansanm Nou Fò.