MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, Irish Cuisine, going beyond the popular pub food. But first we're going to catch up on events in Haiti. This Sunday, Haitians will be selecting their next President in a run-off election between former first lady Mirlande Manigat and popular musician Michele "Sweet Micky" Martelly.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIFurther complicating matter, Jean Claude or, "Baby "Doc" Duvalier is currently in Haiti and exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide may return before Sunday's election. Here to help us sort out the election and the return of both men is Manolia Charlotin, editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian Reporter and co-founder of Haiti 2015. She joins us by telephone from Boston. Manolia, good to talk to you again.

MS. MANOLIA CHARLOTINGood to be here, Kojo, thank you very much for having me.

NNAMDIThank you for joining us. What do we know about former first lady Mirlande Manigat and who does she represent in this race?

CHARLOTINWell, Mirlande Manigat is the former first lady of Haiti. Her husband had spent several months during...

NNAMDILeslie Manigat.

CHARLOTIN...Leslie Manigat, yes -- several months as President during the tumultuous time between the exile of Duvalier and the election of Aristide, between '86 and '90. So she definitely is someone who's very well connected. She'd actually won a senate seat in Haiti, which she did not actually end up occupying due to charges of corruption that she charged other folks who were supporting her. So she is -- and she's also a constitutional law expert. She's a scholar. She teaches at the most prestigious university in Haiti, Quisqueya University.

CHARLOTINSo she's very well connected, very well politically savvy. Her and her husband have been in politics in Haiti for 30 years now so this is someone who's qualified and ready to serve in this capacity.

NNAMDIAllow me to clarify or to have you clarify the taint of corruption. She won that senate seat 2006, but she did not accept the seat. Why?

CHARLOTINWell, she -- her claims are -- and we have the -- not done our reporting on this, so that's why I'm not going to...

NNAMDISure.

CHARLOTIN...I'm just going to talk about her claim. Her claims were that, given the way the seat was won, she felt that some of the folks associated with this seat were corrupted and she did not want to (unintelligible) corruption.

NNAMDISo she was not herself -- she was not, herself, tainted by that corruption at the time.

CHARLOTINI think that -- yes. I think, definitely there is some association with her and the corruption, but it's not necessarily -- that can hinder her politically. It's not what she necessarily known for, but it's definitely -- it's tainted her a bit, yes, because she's been in the game for quite some time. And it was one of those quintessential moments of her winning a seat, but not actually occupying the seat.

NNAMDIWell, Michele Martelly, we know, is a popular singer with a fairly colorful past. It's my understanding that he was a strong opponent of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who may be making a return to Haiti before Sunday. Who is supporting Martelly?

CHARLOTINWell, in terms of, Martelly's support is mostly the folks from the former Duvalier regime. He's a Duvalierist and many of his folks in this camp are from that same -- the same regime, the former regime. And so, you know, to a Martelly Presidency, not saying that he is -- that we know what's going to happen. We do know that it will be backed by some of the same folks.

CHARLOTINWhat he represents in this race and what he has, sort of, made himself out to be is a populist. He's gone -- taken his campaign to the streets pulling out major rallies with major numbers, speaking very candidly for what he became known as a musician to be very frank and candid and to be honest with you, vulgar. He's brought that same fervor and that same personality to his politics. And it's resonating with a large number of the younger masses.

CHARLOTINAnd I think his popularity as a musician, he has been able to transition very well into becoming a popular politician.

NNAMDIThe number to call is 800-433-8850. Have you been following the election process in Haiti, what do you think? What would you like to know, 800-433-8850? We're talking with Manolia Charlotin, editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian Reporter and co-founder of Haiti 2015. Manolia, as I mentioned earlier, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's former President who is in exile in South Africa, is trying to make it back to Haiti before the election takes place.

NNAMDIThe (word?) foreign press is reporting on a fairly thinly sourced report today that he is flying in on Thursday. We don't know that for sure, but why is it so urgent for him to get back before Sunday?

CHARLOTINWell, given who might become Haiti's next President, these aren't necessarily folks who support Aristide and what he -- and his Lavalas party. And so he realizes it's very crucial for him to be there before this next President takes the reins. And there's a plan for him to fly out of Africa on Wednesday or Thursday in a non-commercial jet along with his long-time lawyer and actor and activist Danny Glover, journalist Amy Goodman among others will be accompanying him.

CHARLOTINAnd although U.S. continues to pressure South Africa from letting Aristide leave, at this point, I think the South African government has made up its mind, as it seems, that they will let him go and for the Haitian government to, sort of, deal with his arrival in Haiti.

NNAMDIWell, let's face it, the reality is that as a party, Lavalas has been essentially prohibited from participating in this election, as I said, as a party. And so I suspect that one of the reasons that Jean-Bertrand Aristide accompanied, as you mentioned, by Danny Glover and Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now is flying in, is to, I guess, assert Lavalas' power and independence.

CHARLOTINI think, in terms of Lavalas, many people will say that they still have a very strong presence within the Haitian grassroots and within the rural areas. And this may be true. How we can measure that presence, is I don't think if -- it's a bit difficult to say how much of a stronghold they actually have. But there is a strong anti-establishment sense that's still running very, very deep. And many Haitians are actually going to boycott these elections.

CHARLOTINThey're going to grassroots in the rural areas. And, I think, Lavalas can have a resurgence if they can find a message that resonates with these folks who are boycotting these elections, these -- what they're calling the selections in Haiti. I think, they can actually find a stronghold. I mean, I'm just not convinced to give in if there's not much evidence to draw a conclusion from that they still retain the same amount of power they did or influence they did before Aristide left.

CHARLOTINBut the idea of what they represented, you know, is still very much resonating with the grassroots and resonating in the rural areas.

NNAMDIWell, only 23 percent of Haiti's eligible voters participated in the first round of voting back in November of 2010, that's a low turnout by any measure. So who is it who is not voting?

CHARLOTINI would say, people who feel disenfranchised by the process. I mean, to be frank with you, Haiti suffered this disastrous earthquake which impeded and hurt several major different infrastructure areas, particularly the electoral infrastructure. You have a country that's (word?) not ready to really hold national elections and being forced to do so by the international community's need to set up a government to funnel funds to rebuild the country.

CHARLOTINSo many folks feel like the countries not even ready to have the elections and the first round demonstrated that many voters were -- didn't even have access to the ballot. You know, their names are not on registration lists. I mean, these are real, real concerns that many people have and the folks who are still in those tent camps, people who are -- the farmers who still have access to quality land and to be able to make a living off the produce that they're cultivating.

CHARLOTINThese are real concerns these folks have and they have not seen what they consider the status quo to be addressing these concerns. So why should they participate in something that is not going to really help them in the long run. I mean, the Haitian people not participating and high numbers in the election is their way of sending a clear message, the status quo, that they are not satisfied with what's going on. So it's not necessarily that they're not interested, it's that they don’t want to continue the status quo.

NNAMDIWell, the other side of that coin is, well, let me put it in the form of a question. The Organization of American States, OAS, has acknowledged that the first round of elections was, in a word, corrupt. So why are the OAS and the United States and others in the Caribbean keen on seeing the election process move forward?

CHARLOTINThe argument that the international community has put for -- and I think it's a legitimate one to be frank with you, is that they need to have a transition in power so that a new government can take place and so that reconstruction efforts can actually begin. And this is important, you know, and there are many -- there are billions of dollars pledged to Haitian reconstruction that needs to be allocated. They need to be overseen and -- so there has to be some sense of government structure that can help make that happen.

CHARLOTINIf you leave a void in the electoral process and in the government, it will deter or continue to deter the reconstruction efforts. That's legitimate argument of the international community. I think, what the Haitian people are saying is -- not that they don't see that but they want to be respected and their voice to be heard in the process. And their voice can't be heard in the process if there's not a free and fair election.

NNAMDIRegardless of the election's outcome, there is the chance that the losers, whoever loses, supporters will take to the streets. And with the arrival of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, if that, in fact, happens as early as Thursday, is there a major concern about instability both before and after the election in Haiti?

CHARLOTINYes. I mean, it's clear that both camps, both Martelly and Manigat camps, have said they will take to the streets if they feel like the elections were not the -- would not fair in their own terms. You know, Martelly has been very, very clear that he encourages his supporters to take the street and voice their unhappiness with the results, if that happens. And Manigat has done the same. So Aristide coming into the picture is the other people in the mix who are neither Martelly and Manigat supporters as of 23 percent demonstrated as the, you know, a good number of folks.

CHARLOTINThey're going to take the streets for either Lavalas and/or an alternate where the status quo doesn't continue what it wants to continue in the country. So there will be many different factions in the streets protesting and/or trying to voice their concerns and/or opinion. And either way, no matter what happens, no matter how it turns out, that's going to be the case. The streets of Port-au-Prince, the streets of Haiti will be full of people out there trying to voice their opinion and voice their concerns the way they know how.

NNAMDII get the impression that the international community and Haitians who happen to be living overseas here in the United States and in other countries would rather see economic development be the priority rather than the kind of political jockeying that we're seeing right now?

CHARLOTINYes, but to be frank with you, you have a people who have been disenfranchised, marginalized and economically oppressed for quite some time. it's hard to talk about economic development with them when they don't have basic homes and basic services and basic access to quality healthcare and water, you know, so it's very hard to talk about building when there's not a solid foundation.

CHARLOTINAnd any solid foundation of a democracy is the people's voice and people's voice is through a free and fair election. So it seems to me that, you know, it's convenient to try to say we need to focus on economic development and business and infrastructure and but when you have folks who can't eat and don't have a place to live and or can't go vote in a very calm and respectful atmosphere, it's very difficult to have that next step of conversation.

NNAMDIWell, it just seems to me that given what we have been discussing so far with "Baby Doc" being there, with Aristide returning there, with only 23 percent of the population voting, with suspicions surrounding both candidates, that even after this election is over, the notion of being able to focus on the relief effort that urgently needs to take place, is once again, it looks as if it's going to get squandered.

CHARLOTINIt will, it will and so, because when we're not addressing with the fundamentals here. I mean, you can't, you know, go to step B without addressing step A and I think what the Haitians were saying is that we want to be heard in the process. We want to have access to basic things. Before you start building fancy hotels, before you start bringing in major factories for low wage and little mobility jobs, before you start talking about these things, can I at least cultivate, you know, my plant crop for this year? Can I at least have clean water? Can I at least have a basic school that my kids even go to, let alone talk about the quality of education?

CHARLOTINAnd one thing we're not talking about here, there is still a cholera epidemic in Haiti and there is still an increase of violence towards women and girls. I mean, there is still all these underlying societal deep issues that we're still confronting. Why we have not built a sound political system that works for the people in order for us to have the economic development conversation.

NNAMDIEven as we look at another human tragedy related to an earthquake in Japan, one can only hope that come Sunday we'll be able to, well, chew gum and walk at the same time and look at what's going on also in Haiti. Manolia Charlotin, thank you so much for joining us.

CHARLOTINThank you, I really appreciate your time Kojo.

NNAMDIManolia Charlotin is the editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian Reporter and co-founder of Haiti 2015. We're going to take a short break. Exactly what are you cooking up for St. Patrick's Day? Is it even Irish? Let's talk about that. I’m Kojo Nnamdi.