(05-13) 13:32 PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
-- The musician Michel Martelly will be sworn in as Haiti's new president Saturday in front of the collapsed National Palace and a shantytown filled with thousands of people displaced by last year's earthquake - two stark reminders of the challenges faced by the neophyte politician.
The performer known to Haitians as "Sweet Micky" is not expected to have much of a honeymoon amid deep frustration with a political leadership that has made little progress toward earthquake reconstruction or addressed many other problems, from a deeply dysfunctional judicial system to almost universal unemployment.
The 50-year-old leader, who during the campaign provided few specifics of how he would fulfill his promises, is expected to lay out some of his vision during an inaugural speech. Whatever they are, his goals won't be easy to achieve given the country's entrenched problems - and the fact that the Senate and Chamber of Deputies will be controlled by political opponents from the party of outgoing President Rene Preval.
"All eyes are on Martelly, and he has an opportunity to show what he can do," said Mark Schuller, a professor of African-American studies and anthropology at York College, City University of New York.
The inauguration marks the first time that a president of Haiti will turn over power to a member of the opposition in a country marred by a long history of dictatorship, coups and political turmoil.
Read more at SFGate.