The backing of President Rene Preval's newly formed Unity
party could push the former premier's prospects ahead of the international star
power of Haitian-born, Brooklyn-raised singer Wyclef Jean.
Alexis was nominated late Tuesday at a Unity meeting,
presidential Chief of Staff Fritz Longchamp told The Associated Press.
The two candidates were pictured side-by-side on the
front page of Port-au-Prince's Le Nouvelliste newspaper the next day under the
headline, "Alexis designated, Wyclef decided." Jean says he will
declare his candidacy Thursday night in an English-language interview from
Haiti broadcast primarily in the United States.
The winner of the Nov. 28 election will be faced with
monumental tasks including rebuilding a capital destroyed by the magnitude-7
earthquake and dealing with an estimated 1.6 million homeless.
Before Jean's impending announcement, first reported
Tuesday by AP, political observers in Haiti were most closely watching to see
who would be chosen to carry the standard of the president's party.
Preval, who is barred by the constitution from running,
created Unity last year. It quickly absorbed Cabinet ministers, the presidents
of both parliamentary chambers and almost half the members of the lower house with
promises of helping to finance their upcoming campaigns.
Alexis was brought on in 2006 as Preval's No. 2 and head
of government, tasked with uniting a fractious Cabinet after the ouster of
former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and two years of gang warfare under a
US-backed interim government.
Alexis was ousted by the Senate in April 2008 as
Port-au-Prince melted down in a week of food riots that killed at least seven
people including a UN police officer. He has since been largely invisible in
Haiti, popping up now and then at speaking engagements in the United States.
Candidates have until Saturday to register. Scores are
expected to seek the presidency, from small-town mayors and businessmen to
other former heads of government.
All must be approved by an eight-member, presidentially
approved electoral council that will verify constitutional requirements
including having resided in Haiti for five consecutive years leading up to the
election and never having held foreign citizenship.
