Michel Martelly
| Michel Martelly | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Haiti | |
|
In office 14 May 2011 – 7 February 2016 |
|
| Prime Minister |
Jean-Max Bellerive Garry Conille Laurent Lamothe Florence Duperval Guillaume (Acting) Evans Paul |
| Preceded by | René Préval |
| Succeeded by | Jocelerme Privert (Provisional) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 February 1961 Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Political party | Haitian Tèt Kale Party |
| Spouse(s) | Sophia Saint-Rémy (m. 1987) |
| Children |
Olivier Sandro Yani Malaika |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Website | Official website |
| Sweet Micky | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Michel Joseph Martelly |
| Genres | Compas |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician Composer |
| Instruments |
Vocals Keyboard |
| Years active | 1988–2011 |
Michel Joseph Martelly (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl ʒɔzɛf maʁteli]; born 12 February 1961) was the President of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Martelly is one of Haiti's best-known musicians for over a decade, going by the stage name Sweet Micky. For business and musical reasons, Martelly has moved a number of times between the United States and Haiti. When travelling to the United States, Martelly mostly stays in Florida.
As a singer and keyboardist, "Sweet Micky" is known for his Kompa music, a style of Haitian dance music sung predominantly in the Haitian Creole language, but he blended this with other styles. Martelly popularized a "new generation" of compas with smaller bands relying on synthesizers and electronic instruments. From 1989 to 2008, Martelly recorded over a dozen studio albums and a number of live CDs. As a musician and club owner in Haiti in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Martelly became associated with the neo-Duvalierist Haitian military and police, including figures such as police chief Michel François, and he agreed with the 1991 Haitian coup d'état against Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 1995, after Aristide had been restored to office, Martelly's name appeared on a hit list of coup supporters, and he stayed away from Haiti for almost a year. During this time, he released a song, "Prezidan" (on the album Pa Manyen), "an exuberant ditty that called for a president who played compas". However, he did not run for political office until 2010, when he became a candidate for President of Haiti.
Martelly won the Haitian general election, 2010–2011 for his party Repons Peyizan (Farmers' Response Party), after a run-off against candidate Mirlande Manigat. Martelly had come in third in the first round of the election, until the Organization of American States forced Jude Célestin to withdraw due to alleged fraud. Martelly assumed his position of the President of Haiti on 14 May 2011. His election campaign included a promise to reinstate the nation's military, which had been abolished in the 1990s by Aristide.
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