Michel Martelly which had been abolished in the 1990s by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Martelly was born in Port-au-Prince, the son of Gerard Martelly, a Shell Oil executive and Marie Madeleine De Martelly (1931-21 October 2016). On his mother's side, his grandfather Auguste de Pradines was a troubadour who wrote comic protest songs against the 1915-34 United States occupation of Haiti. After graduating from high school at the Institution Saint Louis de Gonzague, Martelly enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy, but (according to Martelly) was expelled after impregnating the daughter of a general. In 1984, he moved to the United States, and worked in
James Michel observers. According to official results, President René and his Seychelles People's Progressive Front party won presidential and legislative elections in 2001 and 2002 respectively, with about 54% of the vote in both cases. After retiring from politics in 2016, Michel created the James Michel Foundation to fund and support projects that focuses on blue economy and climate change. After serving as Vice-President for nearly eight years, beginning in August 1996, Michel became President on Julh 14, 2004, when René stepped down. At that point, Michel was René's longest-serving cabinet minister. As President, he held the portfolios of Defence, Police, Information,