During a press conference at the Hotel Oloffson, Monday, Feb. 21, in front of the press and broadcasted live on the internet, the internet users were able to intervene, the presidential candidate, Michel Martelly has presented Monday a review of his beginning of campaign, that he described of positive. He described as "historic gathering" the opening of his campaign last Thursday in Cap Haitien, where thousands of people, mostly youths, had welcomed it enthusiastically.

Reacting to criticism about his artistic life, Mr. Martelly explained that at the time on the stage, he had an attitude to please to an audience that had paid to attend his shows. He acknowledged, have uploaded some videos on the internet where he appears in postures of spectacle, unorthodox. He said that he assumes his past as an artist and that he does not avoid the questions from reporters, but he regrets that his detractors want to present it as a bandit, a flashy without culture or they attempt to launch new controversy over his "verbal excesses" which he said were taken "out of context".

Ensuring that his speech enjoyed a favorable response within the population, he reported to the press that from today, in his new strategy, he will not respond to the accusations of his opponents, preferring to focus on his program. Last week during an interview on the airwaves of a radio station in Fort-Liberté, the candidate described her opponent in the second round [Mirlande Manigat] as a person "lacking of energy" and that she would not "to the height of her intellectual abilities despite her qualifications (diplomas)"... Hope that the candidate will respect his new strategy, which will allow to have a debate of ideas, far from the personal attacks.

Michel Martelly, answered several questions from the Internet users including:

To a double question on his position on the army and the reforestation, Michel Martelly has declared :
We have this plan for a national security force, a plan that is virtually identical to that of the Minustah, [...] when the Minustah will go away, it will be essential that we can replace it with a national force. A force where young people can do reforestation, there will be engineers, doctors, rescue workers, they will have a military or police formation [...] So yes we are talking about army, of force, the name for us it's not important, that it is the army, gendarmerie, whatever, the important thing is to have this force that could replace the Minustah when she will leave"

To a question asking if he would accept to appoint the former first lady, [Mirlande Manigat] in his government
Michel Martelly said he was open to all. He said that "everyone has a place [...] We must work together to build Haiti"

To a question regarding the dual nationality Michel Martelly has declared :
I think, to have lived with you there, that it is important, it is imperative that we pass this law and that once you are Haitian-American, you can still enjoy your rights, civil and political as Haitian, vote by example, run for some position. Of course, I believe that for someone that is running for the presidency, he must still live in Haiti, as required by law, at least five years before his nomination. How to invite someone to lead a country that he does not know or he did not lived? Is in this sense that I invite you [...] if you are interested, to think about all this, [...] when we talk about the diaspora, what interests me most is not just passing laws for the diaspora, but its involvement in the development of Haiti. We have some programs that the diaspora
could handle, projects and even manage accounts, because when we talk about project, there is a budget and someone who manages. We would like that it goes through the diaspora. The diaspora has always dreamed to participate, it's not just participate in politics, it's about being there, coming home, to manage, to plan, to present projects and participate in the development, and not only to enjoy of its rights. It is this involvement that we expect of the diaspora, it remains an important member of our population, we expect the diaspora.

To a question about the priorities :
In the state where the country is, I think that everything is a priority, however there are still emergencies such as people living under tents or which are suffering from cholera, they are two emergency. After that we must speak of priority, but when we talk about priorities in a country that has not grown for almost 25-30 years, a country that did not advance, a country that has declined rather, I think everything is a priority. Yesterday I went to Pignon, the most important demand was to have drinking water. We talk in 2011 of a country that was formerly the pearl of the Antilles now you are talking about drinking water problems, so it is to say that everything is to do, I would not say to redo, because if there was water previously, we could repair, but they have never had a system for drinking water. So at this level we have promised to provide them with drinking water once elected.

Article by HL/ HaitiLibre