Musician elected new Haiti President - 5th Apr 2011

Michel Martelly, a carnival singer with a colourful past who seized the mantle of change, is Haiti’s new president after storming to a landslide victory, preliminary results showed.

The 50-year-old faces the huge challenge of rebuilding the Caribbean nation, which was the poorest country in the Americas even before a January 2010 earthquake flattened the capital Port-au-Prince and killed more than 225,000 people.

Martelly, with 67.57 per cent of the vote, ended the dreams of former first lady Mirlande Manigat, who was vying to become Haiti’s first democratically elected female leader but finished with a disappointing 31.74 per cent showing.

The results, released late Monday by the electoral commission, are not final as a period of legal complaints must be observed until April 16.

But with such a large margin, Martelly’s victory seems all but assured.

His supporters engaged in peaceful celebrations on the streets of the capital’s Petionville area, though the US embassy reported gunfire from the festivities and urged its citizens to “stay indoors and avoid large crowds for tonight.”

Washington hailed the election results as an “important milestone” and urged Haitians to keep their demonstrations peaceful as the process moves forward. Source