Michel Martelly 2007, he moved back to Haiti. In the process, when the mortgage/financial sector crashed, he defaulted on more than $1m in loans, losing 3 properties to foreclosure. Following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in January 2010, Martelly ran for President of Haiti in the general elections. He benefited from his celebrity status as a musician, and held musical rallies called koudjay (musical political endorsement rallies), drawing crowds and media attention. He challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On 3 February 2011, it was announced that he would participate
Jude Célestin results showed law professor and former first lady Mirlande Manigat in first place, with 31.4 percent of the vote. Célestin came next, with 22.5 percent, and singer Michel Martelly took third place with 21.8 percent. Widespread riots and reports of election fraud followed the announcement of these results. In December, Martelly supporters set fire to the INITE headquarters, located in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Pétion-Ville. On February 3, INITE was forced to drop Célestin from the race. On 4 April 2011, a senior official announced that Michel Martelly won the presidential run-off election against candidate Mirlande Manigat. His LAPEH party