Wyclef challenges election in song

(Reuters)

Haitian hip-hop star and presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean has turned to song to accuse outgoing President Rene Preval of engineering his rejection as a candidate for the November election.

Local radio stations broadcast a song by Jean in Creole in which he called for the jailing of electoral officials who last week disqualified him and for the first time directly blamed Preval.

The 40-year-old Haitian-born, U.S.-based celebrity, who has an enthusiastic youth following in his poor homeland, is challenging his rejection, which was based on him not meeting residency requirements.

The dispute has raised fears of tensions that could disrupt the Caribbean nation's rebuilding after a massive Jan. 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people.

In his Creole composition entitled Prizon Pou K.E.P. a (Jail for the Provisional Electoral Council), a sombre-voiced Jean sings that Preval "expelled me from the race."

"I know all the cards are in your hands . . . I voted for you to be president in 2006, why today did you reject my candidacy?" the song says, addressing Preval, who cannot seek re-election after serving two terms as president.

"It's not Wyclef that you have expelled, it is the youth you have denied . . . it's the population you have denied, it's the peasants you have denied," Jean sings. He also posted the song on his Twitter page https://twitter. com/wyclef.

Preval had been informed about the song but did not immediately react, aides said.