Haiti Hopeful Wyclef Jean Files Presidential Papers

'President Wyclef' moved a small step closer to reality yesterday, as the former Fugees rapper Wyclef Jean submitted the paperwork that officially begins his quest to become the leader of Haiti, the Press Association reports.

As he went to hand in his candidacy papers at an electoral office in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Wyclef Jean -- flanked by his wife and daughter -- announced, "It's a moment in time and in history ... It's very emotional."

The 'Gone Till November' performer faces stiff competition to be elected president of the troubled island nation, which remains devastated following January's earthquake. Incumbent president Rene Preval's Unity party have nominated former Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis, who was dismissed from his post in 2008 following food riots in the country, as their candidate for the top job. Preval himself has reached the constitutionally imposed two-term limit.

Following the submission of his paperwork, Jean -- who was born in Haiti and lived there till aged nine, when he moved to Brooklyn in the United States -- held an impromptu street rally, standing on top of an SUV and shouting "The US has Barack Obama and Haiti has Wyclef Jean." It is expected that dozens of other presidential hopefuls will have put themselves forward by Saturday's deadline.

The winner of the Nov. 28 vote will take office in early February 2011, accepting the somewhat poisoned chalice of ruling a poverty-stricken nation in recovery from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake with more than a million-and-a-half homeless citizens.