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![Michel]()
Maybe there will be a fair election in Haiti after all.
Popular singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly (pictured) will appear on the country's final presidential ballot, according to Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council.
The decision means that government-backed candidate Jude Celestin won't appear as a candidate in the March run-off election.
The announcement will likely please the masses since it was widely believed that Celestin benefited from government fraud, which put him on the final ballot from the first round of voting in November.
Martelly will face Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady, who finished first among the top three candidates.
Maybe I'm being unfair, but it's hard for me to see how a showy island singer will be able to lead Haiti from the abyss. If that is who the Haitian people want to take the reigns of government, though, so be it.
After all, we have picked all sorts of actors, comedians and action heroes for political office here and the world didn't come to an end.
The difference here, though, is that the future of Haiti's earthquake recovery lies in the balance.
International relief funds have been slowed for the past year, because donating countries have no confidence that their money won't line the pockets of corrupt leaders. Until Haiti gets a president the world can believe in, the money will likely remain bottled up.
Shops closed early, banks shut their doors and people retreated to the safety of their homes in Port-au-Prince, fearing new violent protests ahead of the election announcement.
The streets will likely be peaceful, however, with the announcement that "Sweet Micky" is on the ballot. Soon it will be time for Haitians to decide if he will be their next president.
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