Port-au-Prince - A three-year political crisis that delayed local and parliamentary elections has done nothing to dampen Haiti's enthusiasm for democracy, judging by the avalanche of hopefuls now running for president.
Taking charge of an impoverished Caribbean nation still struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake and a cholera epidemic might seem a tough challenge, but no less than 70 candidates think they're up to the job.
The incumbent, former pop star Michel Martelly, is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term in a country still scarred by the cruelty of former "presidents for life" Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier.
So with the field open to new ideas and new faces, scores of pretenders registered with the Provisional Election Council for the October 25 vote, some waiting until Wednesday night's deadline to lodge a last-minute bid.
But the number of late arrivals was not a sign of indecision or humility -- the candidates seized on the administrative formality to make a first public show of their support.
In a carnival atmosphere, candidates arrived to deposit their paperwork leading crowds of noisy supporters through Port au Prince's streets, some of them on horseback.
More than half of the 70 hopefuls waited until Wednesday to make themselves known and their rival rallies effectively blocked traffic on one of the city's major thoroughfares.
Haitians are used to this kind of electoral extravaganza and many laugh about what locals call the "candidatitis" that grips their more ambitious citizens as polling day looms.
Martelly was a popular carnival singer, but his lightning rise through the political ranks to the top job in the land has inspired many to believe that they have a similar chance.
There are some who grumble, however, that the overloaded ballot paper makes a mockery of what should be a solemn process of choosing the leader of a very troubled nation.
AFP
