Recording artist Wyclef Jean, shown last month in New York, has been ruled ineligible as a candidate for president of Haiti. (Richard Drew/Associated Press)Wyclef Jean's bid for the Haitian presidency has ended, with the former Fugees rapper and music producer left off the electoral council's list of eligible candidates.

Council spokesman Richard Dumel said election officials have accepted 19 candidacies and rejected 15 others.

"Though I disagree with the ruling, I respectfully accept the committee's final decision, and I urge my supporters to do the same," Jean said.

The Haitian-born singer's candidacy was turned down because he did not meet the residency requirement of having lived in Haiti for five years before the Nov. 28 election.

Electoral laws stipulate a host of legal eligibility requirements for presidential candidates, including that they must have had five consecutive years of residency in Haiti and own property on the island.

On Thursday, the Haitian-born Jean, who moved to New York at the age of nine, met with Haitian President René Préval for several hours, saying afterward that the meeting had been positive.

Préval said he wanted to "meet with every possible presidential candidate," and called for a peaceful campaign ahead of the vote, Jean recounted. Haitian law prohibits Préval from running for re-election for a third consecutive term.

Outspoken champion for Haiti

The 40-year-old Jean, one of the impoverished Caribbean nation's most famous and outspoken champions, has brought international attention to the race for the Haiti presidency with his recent announcement of his bid.

The hip-hop star has been an outspoken voice for his homeland in recent years and especially since the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.

In 2007, he was appointed by the government as a roving "ambassador-at-large."

However, Jean has also drawn criticism from a range of fellow entertainment world figures — including his former Fugees bandmate and fellow Haitian-American Pras Michel, U.S. actor and activist Sean Penn (who has been running a relief camp in Haiti) and Arcade Fire singer Win Butler (a regular Haitian relief fundraiser whose wife is Haitian-Canadian).

They have questioned his qualifications, including his lack of political experience and his inability to fluently speak French or Creole, Haiti's two official languages.

He also faced criticism over the operations of his former charitable foundation, Yéle Haiti.

Jean said this week that he received death threats for his presidential aspirations.

Haitians will vote for a new president on Nov. 28.