Michel Martelly was inaugurated as president of Haiti on May 14, the first time in the country’s 207 years of independence that power has passed peacefully from one elected president to another from an opposing party. That successful transition, and Martelly’s compelling, pragmatic message, are feeding a rare sense of hope that his presidency may mark a chance for renewal for a country that is not only the hemisphere’s poorest but that has also been, for many years, one of its worst-ruled and most turbulent.

Martelly, a hugely popular musician and entertainer, succeeds Rene Preval, a two-term president whose admirable willingness to hand over power does not offset his inert response to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010. Martelly, by contrast, has signaled a sense of urgency to his own country as well as to the international donors who have pledged – but not yet delivered – billions of dollars for Haiti’s reconstruction.

To kick-start such a massive rebuilding project, Martelly will need to deliver a competent, practical, transparent administration as well as the stability to assure foreign governments and potential investors that their money will not be swallowed by corruption, mismanagement and political upheaval. Accordingly, he used his inaugural speech to stress the importance of security, stability and respect for the law – including paying taxes – as a precondition for attracting jobs, growth and some semblance of economic vibrancy. He repeated and emphasized a campaign pledge to provide free and obligatory public education for Haiti’s children, just a fraction of whom now receive it. Equally encouraging, he nominated a smart, non-partisan, American-educated businessman, Daniel Rouzier, as prime minister, a move clearly calculated to show that Haiti is open for business.

Martelly and Rouzier are political novices, and both may encounter turbulence in Haiti’s parliament, which must confirm the prime minister. They will need all the help they can get from allies, including in Washington, in demonstrating that they can marshal the dollars and technical expertise to clear rubble, construct homes and eradicate disease after months of drift.

Haiti’s disastrous experience with its presidents in recent decades, whether they took office by the ballot or rougher means, tempers any undue optimism about the country’s prospects. Martelly, who has been identified in the past with right-wing and undemocratic forces, has said he is weighing the merits of re-creating the national army, which was disbanded for good reasons in the 1990s, or issuing an amnesty to former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, a serial human rights abuser who returned from exile a few months ago. Both would be divisive, possibly destabilizing moves.

But he has also stressed the more immediate, concrete challenges of getting Haiti back on its feet: finding permanent housing for the tens of thousands who remain in tent cities 16 months after the quake; clearing mounds of rubble from entire neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince; reinvigorating the nation’s agricultural sector so that slum-dwellers may have an incentive to return to their home villages; stemming the tide of cholera that has swept through the country, killing thousands. As long as Martelly focuses on those pressing items, he should receive help from international donors and support from his compatriots.