Politics
Martelly displays passport to prove Haitian citizenship
Haiti President.,Michel Martelly. PHOTO/File
Seeking to end rumors that he is a US citizen, President Michel Martelly showed his Haitian passport on national television.
Haiti’s constitution does not allow dual nationality, and charges that he has foreign passports, raised by his opponents, has been a thorn in Martelly’s side for months.
Martelly lived in the United States for some time and obtained a US residency card, which he said he surrendered upon being elected to office.
“I am a native Haitian. I, Joseph Michel Martelly, have never lied,” the president said on Thursday, during a meeting with religious leaders at the presidential palace which was broadcast on national television.
Also at the event was Kenneth Merten, the US ambassador to Haiti, who vouched for the Haitian leader.
“I can say that President Martelly is not a US citizen, he is a Haitian,” Merten said. Senior Haitian government members at the event applauded the statement.
Martelly showed eight passports, all Haitian, to religious leaders from the group “Religion for Peace.”
