August 8, 2010 13:18

Pras Michel criticises Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean's Haiti presidential bid

He says he'll be supporting rival Michel Martelly at the forthcoming election

Wyclef Jean pictured shortly after announcing his decision to run for Haiti presidency
Photo: PA

Wyclef Jean's Fugees bandmate Pras Michel has endorsed his rival Michel Martelly in the island's forthcoming presidential elections.

Jean announced his decision to run earlier this week, though he has already been criticised by actor Sean Penn - a resident on the island - for not being enough of a presence there since the devastating earthquake that struck in January.

In a series of posts on his Twitter.com/prasmichel page, Michel revealed his support for Martelly, a Haitian who is also a former musician.

"It's official, the people are asking for it. I'm here in the belly of Haiti, I endorse Michel Martelly as the next president of Haiti!" he Tweeted.

A later Tweet from Michel seemed to back up Penn's earlier reservations about Jean.

"Sean Penn understands what's really going and understand what Haiti really needs," Michel wrote. He later added: "I heard a couple months ago Sean Penn tried to reach out to Wyclef and Clef never responded…"

However, Michel did admit that he still likes Jean as a person - though in the same Tweet he also laid into his decision to announce his candidacy live on CNN, a channel which he says is watched by "the elite in Haiti" only.

"I want to make it unequivocally clear I love Wyclef to def [sic] but he's not [qualified] to be the leader of the new Haiti, especially after CNN."

The elections are set to take place on November 28.