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Haiti: 70 candidates contesting for presidency in October elections
‘Why not me?’
Thierry Mayard-Paul served as Martelly’s interior minister between 2011 and 2012 and credits his former boss with opening the eyes of Haitians to their democratic potential.
But he also complains of a “popularization” of the process, warning: “An ordinary nobody can say to himself, ‘Why not me?’ without realizing the importance of what is at stake.”
Mayard-Paul is one of the 70 candidates looking for a way to distinguish himself from the pack.
He will be competing against political debutants such as Clarens Renois, who, like many here, has watched frustrated as generations of leaders failed to tackle Haiti’s problems.
“As a journalist, I have seen so much and lived real moments of despair,” he told reporters.
“You start to wonder if you haven’t, yourself, the vision needed to change things. But it is not an easy choice because we know that Haiti is a political minefield.”
Many of the candidates have fought on this field before – a number of former parliamentarians and ministers have signed up.
Wealthy businessman and close Martelly ally Laurent Lamothe, who resigned as prime minister in December amid fierce opposition street protests, has made his presidential ambition official.
His return to frontline politics has been followed closely and is controversial – his opponents allege he is not even eligible to run.
Under Haitian law, a former senior official such as the ex-premier who wants to stand for elected office must be granted a dispensation from parliament attesting that he or she has not mismanaged public funds.
