This year 54 candidates are running to be president of Haiti and 63 candidates to be mayor of Port au Prince. After a year of drought some of the candidates have promised to literally make the rainfall, while other candidates claim they will solve all of Haiti’s problems. The victory in the last presidential election of Mr. Michel Martelly -also known as ‘Sweet Micky’ when he was a musician and bandleader- in 2011 seems to have had open the door to unexpected type of candidates.
Even though Haiti and the US were established as one of the world’s first democracies, Haitians will go to the pools in less than two weeks under the same tyranny of media as the republican’s primary. This story is an opportunity to show how democratic elections are today closer to media circus rather than a debate of ideas.
The recent presidential debate organized in Washington DC by some Haitian presidential candidates seems to show the remaining influence of the former over the latter. Given the importance of advertisement in such elections, the invisible hand coming from the US will finance its favorite candidate to get more visibility and thus all the chances to be elected; today the triumph of marketing is maybe allowing a quieter coup d’état than before.
Visually the overflow of candidates’ faces in the streets of Port au Prince oppresses you. Every wall in the city is covered with political slogans and pictures. All your senses get overwhelmed. The loud speakers harassing you with the blaring campaign slogans scream across the city also participate to the show. They are usually followed by a flood of supporters wearing tee shirts at the effigies of their favorite candidate; reinforcing the idea of cult of personality close to the hysteria of a rock star. The story also illustrates the passion of the mass for candidates such as the popular Youri Chevry -running for mayor-who is also the manager of the well-known Barikad Crew, a hip-hop group from Port-au-Prince. (https://twitter.com/BRICKSBC; https://twitter.com/yourichevry)
