Michel J. Martelly, Haitian presidential candidate

I am not Martelly’s friend, and I am too young to have been his classmate. During his 25-year tenure as an entertainer, I only attended two of his live performances. So I am not going to tell you that I grew up with him or he is a family friend. He is only a Haitian citizen who, undoubtedly, loves his country with all his heart and is willing to die for it.

I had dismissed his candidacy at first because, like most, I could not take his candidacy seriously.

How did I end up becoming a strong supporter of his? Well, it was not an easy decision for me. I studied both of them and became convinced that he is the right person for the job for the moment to put Haiti back on track.

Unlike Manigat, his opponent, he is a man of character. Throughout the campaign, he had always kept it honest. When the tough got tougher, he would stand on his two feet to fight. I had never seen him back down or try to apologize for the things he had done and said on and off stage during his entertainment career. When he used to be wrongly and unfairly accused of the fabricated things, he would fight them with all his strength. You need that level of character and stamina in your leader to inspire trust and confidence.

He is a strong, disciplined and no-nonsense type of guy. He is not someone to be messing with, for if you do, you will regret for having stepped on his big toe.

He is a unifier, not a divider. He can bring our divided country together, under the same roof, for a common purpose –regardless our socioeconomic, religious, political and ethnic differences –to inspire all of us to do for ourselves what we have been waiting on others to for us.

Martelly is a leader, not an intellectual. He is a doer, not a fancy talker. That’s how I ended up buying into his candidacy. I consider myself a smart buyer -one who would weigh the pros and cons of anything before closing a sale. I am not the type to be buying anything for the fun of buying.

So my decision to support Martelly for president of Haiti, someone whose candidacy I did not take seriously at first, was well thought of; it was not a simple and easy decision. That is why I could give it my unconditional support. He will be the next president of Haiti, and he will be an amazement to all those who did not believe in him and a matter of pride to all of us who had stood by him to get him elected.