Haiti’s ex-president Martelly registers as candidate for upcoming election

Haiti’s former president Michel Martelly presented his candidacy Friday for the upcoming general elections.

Martelly, who had already registered online, appeared at the Provisional Electoral Council’s offices with three lawyers and was followed by hundreds of supporters to submit the documents required to register as a presidential candidate for the elections scheduled for December 13, the first general elections in more than 10 years.

He is running under the banner of Debloke, a political coalition that includes former members of PHTK, the party he previously led.

On October 9, Haiti’s electoral council dropped a rule targeting candidates sanctioned by foreign countries.

Martelly, once a popular musician known as “Sweet Micky,” who served as president from 2011 to 2016, was sanctioned by the United States and Canada, accusing him of facilitating drug trafficking and sponsoring multiple gangs.

A new report submitted to the United Nations Security Council and made public earlier this month details the deep ties between gangs and the country’s political and economic actors as it warned of a surge in violence leading up to the elections.

As gang violence continues, observers wonder if elections are even possible.

Gang violence has displaced more than 1.4 million people, with armed men controlling an estimated 70 percent of Port-au-Prince and the main roads that lead to the country’s Central and Artibonite provinces, which also are under fire.

In the most recent gang attack, four Salvadoran officers of the Gang Suppression force, the international force acting in Haiti with the national police to fight the gangs, were abducted Sunday, prompting El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to send special forces for a military operation to rescue the four aviation technicians.

More than 50 percent of Haiti’s electorate live in those three regions, and it’s unclear whether all those seeking to vote will be able to register, let alone vote, given the violence.

Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has pushed back the candidate registration deadline to October 31. Sixteen presidential candidates have registered so far.