Michel Martelly for political office until 2010, when he became a candidate for President of Haiti. After the catastrophic earthquake, Martelly won the Haitian general election, 2010–11 for his party Repons Peyizan ("Farmers' Response Party"), after a run-off against candidate Mirlande Manigat. Martelly had come in third in the first round of the election, until the Organization of American States forced Jude Célestin to withdraw due to alleged fraud. Martelly assumed his position of the President of Haiti on 14 May 2011 after René Préval retired to his home in Marmelade. His election campaign included a promise to reinstate the nation's military,
Elections in Haiti cast in the first-round election. A second round was scheduled for March 20, 2011 with the two highest vote-getters, Mirlande Manigat and Jude Célestin. Protests claiming fraudulent voting resulted in the electoral commission removing Célestin from the race. This promoted Martelly from his original third-place finish in the first-round, to face Manigat in the run-off. The last presidential election was held on 28 November 2010 with a runoff on 20 March 2011. Michel Martelly won the runoff election held on 20 March 2011 with 67.6% of the vote against 31.7% for Mirlande Manigat and was sworn into office on 14