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"I would have won the vote, hands-down. But the power brokers weren't comfortable with my policies."

So says Wyclef Jean, the former future president of Haiti who wishes to return to and help rebuild his birth country. But if the hip-hop star sought to emulate Barack Obama's shine and "yes we can" optimism, Haitian electoral law said "no you can't" in response. Jean, a Haitian-born New Jerseyite who owns land throughout Haiti, did not satisfy the country's five-year residency requirement for the job.

Speaking last week from New York - Jean is now in Haiti for Sunday's presidential election - the musician is still seething over the electoral council's decision. "I voted in the 2006 election," he points out. "If you voted, you should be able run."

His protests notwithstanding, Jean will not be president of the beleaguered island nation he emigrated from when he was nine years old. Still, his new five-song EP, If I Were President: My Haitian Experience, which is to be released digitally on Dec. 7, is politically motivated. As a concession speech, the EP concedes little. As a campaign diary and manifesto, however, it's a doozy.

The first single, Election Time, was released earlier this month. Against a fluid Caribbean rhythm, Jean's chicken-in-every-pot promise is to "get my people out of them tents" - a reference to the homeless, in the wake of impoverished Haiti's still-felt earthquake devastation.

The song's chorus is a shout-along, with children chanting "we okay/ as long as we got music we gonna dance all day." Jean, 40, says he was inspired by Pink Floyd's anti-authoritarian Another Brick in the Wall.

"It's a metaphor," he explains, referring to Election Time's lyrical references to U2, Kanye West and Taylor Swift. "Musicians are doing a better job than politicians. The youth are tired of older politicians who have had these [political]parties for 30 years and have done nothing. It's better that you put it into the hands of the younger generation to govern."

His thoughts echo those of Alice Cooper, the shock rocker who with his satirical hit Elected from 1972 said that kids want a saviour - "don't need a fake." The song, interestingly enough, also notes a "yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce," a line that might raise the eyebrows of those who see Jean as wealthy and out-of-touch - a sort of diaspora dandy.

As far back as 2006, with the release of his wishful song If I Were President - "An old man told me, instead of spending billions on the war, we can use some of that money, in the ghetto" - Jean has harboured political ambition. It was January's earthquake in Haiti that made him start to think about running for Haitian president; he declared his candidacy in August, in an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, because the "little nation with big problems and even bigger heart can no longer wait to turn a corner." His electoral platform stood on four pillars: education, human rights, agrarian reform and security.

Opposition to Jean's candidacy came from, among other quarters, fellow celebrities: Win Butler, of Montreal's indie-rock superstars Arcade Fire, questioned in a CBC radio interview whether Jean's command of Creole, let alone French, was sufficient to run a complex government. Actor Sean Penn, active in the earthquake relief effort, was "suspicious," telling USA Today that Jean, appointed in 2007 as roving goodwill ambassador, had been a "non-presence" during the days after the disaster struck.

Others criticized Jean for the mishandling of his own financial affairs (the U.S. International Revenue Service has issues with the mansion-owning musician) as well as the fiscal management of his charitable foundation Yele Haiti, a youth-focused organization that has raised roughly $9-million in disaster-relief funds.

President or not, Jean expects to play a role in the reconstruction of Haiti. "We have a political party on the ground," he says, referring to Viv Ansanm, the party he would have represented, whose name means "live together." Jean is also active in the youth movement Fas a Fas ("Face to Face"). "Our presence and energy," he vows, "will be felt."

Given his sway with the nation's desperate younger generation, the so-called Bob Marley of Haiti likely could have been a kingmaker if he had wished. But he has so far refused to endorse any of the 19 contenders to succeed President René Préval. By law, the two-time leader is not allowed to run for a third term; those lined up to succeed him include Mirlande Manigat (a former first lady, whose husband was ousted by a military coup) and Michel (Sweet Micky) Martely (the colourful character and carnival singer). "Backing either is not fair to the other," says Jean, who describes politics in his home country as a "very messy" situation. "I'm not in the position, and I do not feel comfortable endorsing any particular candidate."

While Jean's political motivation seems solid, Martely's run for office is cartoonish in comparison. This is a man who once jested "If I am elected president, I will perform nude on top of the National Palace." Martely's 1995 song Prezidan, a lively mock-candidacy ditty, called for a leader who played compas (Haitian dance music).

Jean's musical impact has certainly been greater: The son of a Nazarene pastor, he went on in the 1990s to become a superstar as one-third of the groundbreaking, Grammy-winning hip-hop group the Fugees (short for refugees). As a solo artist, Jean not only incorporates Haitian rhythm into hits such as Gone Till November, his lyrics elegantly address social issues. Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill), for example, concerns the sexual exploitation of young Haitian women. His previous solo record was 2009's conceptual, semi-autobiographical From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion.

Only a few weeks after he announced his candidacy in August, Jean was in hiding because of threats he allegedly received. The chilling Death Threat on his new EP - "all I wanted to be was the commander-in-chief, but it seems that they want me six-foot-deep" - is true to life, according to Jean. "I did receive some death threats," he says, "and because of that I definitely got armed up. I'm better off alive than dead, to help my country. I don't want to become another martyr."

Another track, the quasi-prophetic Earthquake, is a warning, explains Jean. "An earthquake is coming, and it's coming to all parts of the world," he says. "Before the disaster comes to your country, you should use what is called prevention, so that casualties are not as great as they are in Haiti."

The EP's final track is Prison for the K, a bluesy, Creole slam at the Haitian electoral council's ruling that Jean was ineligible to run. "They should be imprisoned," says Jean.

After tomorrow's election and the aftermath, Jean goes back on the campaign trail: The year 2011 is to see the Haitian Experience tour, a rolling musical advertisement for the nation's art and culture. "We're going to show everybody what the Haitian experience is," the would-be politician says, buoyantly. "It will be a revival."

That is Jean's new call of duty, then - reviving. No country in recent times has needed it more.

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