Wyclef Jean reveals he has no regrets running for president of Haiti in 2010

A failed 2010 bid to run as the president of Haiti doesn’t come with any regrets for seasoned musician and former Fugees front man, Wyclef Jean.

Clef was ruled ineligible to run for presidency at the time because he had not met the requirement to have been resident in Haiti for five years.

In an interview with Billboard in celebration of his forthcoming 10th solo album, Carnival III: Road to Clefication, the 46-year-old maintains he doesn’t regret the failed bid as‘whatever don’t kill you, make you stronger’.

‘I never regret anything because you know they say whatever don’t kill you, make you stronger. I did shake Mandela’s hand. I spent time with him. When people saw me with the Fugees wrapping that [Haitian] flag around me, I wasn’t another rapper that wanted to speak from an emotional place, It’s that same energy that made me feel like I could run for president,’he said.

Clef however rued the missed opportunity, as he felt he stood a good chance to win if he had been allowed to run.

‘When I decided I was gonna run, I was gonna win when they did the data analytics. They used every power they could possibly restore to take me out. This is not Kanye saying one man having all that power — it’s not a song, not in pop culture. I’m one man who had all that power for real, like with one button, I could explode the country with five million Haitians with guns ready to blow up the place for whatever I say but I understood that the true ideology is not to let your ego get in the way. Egos will destroy mankind so I never did it for myself — I did it for the people.

‘If you do something for someone, you can’t be mad if they throw rocks at you or they take you to a cross, you already accepted that they were gonna do that. You keep your eyes open and you await the resurrection because you already know it was over for yourself. Everything that I do for my people, I was doing for my people. At the end of the day, I just want the youth to get their share — free education and the opportunity to work,’ he further said.