Tension In Liberia

Tension In Liberia

OpenLife Nigeria reports that at the moment, tension has enveloped Liberia as 57-year-old President George Weah is competing against rival Joseph Boakai for the second consecutive election in what is Liberia’s fourth post-war vote.

According to the timetable, Liberians will vote on Tuesday in a run-off election between George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai after a fiercely fought first round in which neither was able to score over 50 percent of the vote to secure an outright victory.

Football icon Weah, 57, led the first round in October, gaining 43.83 percent of the vote, and Boakai had 43.44 percent.

Boakai, 78, is a political veteran who from 2006 to 2018 was deputy to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state.

Analysts say the thin margin of votes between them – just 7,126 votes out of almost two million votes – and the absence of a strong third candidate, means the round will also be very competitive.

The 2023 election has been a rematch of the vote in 2017 when Weah won with over 61 percent.

This is the country’s fourth post-war presidential election but the first one without the presence of the United Nations mission which previously provided support to the country’s elections commission.

Liberia’s incumbent President George Weah casts his vote at a polling station in Monrovia on October 10, 2023, during the first round of the presidential vote.

Analysts say the election is a referendum on the ruling party’s stint in power so far.

Some voters have become disenchanted with Weah’s performance, particularly on corruption, high rate of youth unemployment, food inflation and general economic hardship.

He fired his chief of staff and two other senior officials after the United States imposed sanctions on them for corruption.

Ruling party supporters say a new law in July 2022 granting the anticorruption commission prosecutorial power, is evidence of the administration’s fight against corruption.

However, opponents point out that two of the officials sanctioned by the US in 2022 ran for parliamentary seats on the platform of the ruling party.

Weah has blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war for failure to deliver on economic targets.

The removal of subsidy on rice, a major staple in the country, led to a subsequent increase in its price and opposition-led protests in December 2022. But even before then, a 2019 wage harmonisation exercise reduced the salaries of government employees.

Meanwhile, former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has sued for peace as the West African elders return to Liberia for the presidential run-off.

The West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission to Liberia led by Jonathan arrived in Monrovia on Sunday ahead of the country’s run-off presidential election.

Jonathan is accompanied on the mission by former Burkina Faso Prime Minister and one-time President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Kadre Ouedraogo as well as staff of the WAEF secretariat.

The team members will be on the ground during the electoral process to lend their expertise as former sub-regional leaders to support the peaceful conduct of the elections and the strengthening of the country’s democracy.

In an arrival statement issued in Monrovia on Sunday evening, WAEF urged Liberians to conduct themselves peacefully and eschew violence during this second round of voting to avoid a likely breakdown of law and order in the country.

The statement jointly signed by Messrs Jonathan and Ouedraogo also commended Liberians for the peaceful conduct of the 10 October first round of elections and wished the country another successful outing as the citizens get ready to vote in Tuesday’s run-off election.

Advising politicians to be patriotic and law-abiding, WAEF noted that nobody’s personal ambition should be placed above the collective interest of the country.

It further called on the two presidential candidates and their followers in Tuesday’s run-off elections to act in line with the Farmington River Pact to ensure that Liberia remains peaceful during and after the scheduled second round of the Presidential election.

The Mission also charged the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the security authorities to carry out their mandate in accordance with the electoral laws of the land in a manner that delivers credible elections and renews the hope, trust and confidence of the Liberian people on the nation’s democracy.

The statement said further: “The mission is committed to supporting and encouraging Liberians to conduct themselves peacefully and eschew violence during this second round of voting to ensure that there is no break-down of law and order in the country.

“It is reassuring to note that in the past two decades, Liberians had demonstrated a high level of patriotism and good citizenship in the exercise of their civic responsibilities during elections, especially with the peaceful conduct and large turnout of voters during the October 10, 2015, general elections.

It is in light of this that WAEF commended the candidates in the last October 10, 2023 elections for respecting the Farmington River Peace Declaration which resulted in the peaceful outcome of the last exercise.

“We will continue to point out that Liberia occupies a pride of place in the sub-region because of its exemplary democratic credentials, having maintained an enviable track of peaceful elections and seamless transitions in the last two decades. We note that it is a record worth keeping for which we encourage Liberians to strive to maintain peace, law and order during the election.

“The Forum which has been engaging with Liberian stakeholders since July when it first deployed a fact-finding mission to Monrovia wishes Liberians a successful outcome of the 2023 elections and will remain engaged with the country as a dependable ally in the development process, in line with its objective of contributing to the consolidation of democracy and good governance in the West African sub-region.”