Many firsts in Liberia's historic presidential election

-

In Africa's first independent country, home to Africa's first single-party state, Africa's first female president is preparing for the country's first democratic transition of power in over 70 years, but is accused of improperly interfering in the first round of voting.

The election, whose first round was held October 10, can be correctly characterized as the first step toward "the first time in recent memory that a democratically elected Liberian president will hand power to a similarly elected head of state," since the last time such a transition happened was back in 1944.

Liberia's history as an independent country began back in 1847, making it the first independent country on the continent. Prior to that it was a colony of the United States, settled by free-born black Americans and freed slaves.

Over the next hundred years, presidential transfers of power occurred on a regular basis, although the True Whig Party dominated politics from 1878-1980, rendering the country a de facto single party state. There were seventeen presidential transitions from 1847-1944, meaning an average of 5-6 years per president (presidential terms were 2 years until 1907). Then came 73 years without electoral transitions: President Tubman served from 1944 until his death in 1971, succeeded by his Vice President, Tolbert, who was overthrown in a bloody coup in 1980 led by Doe, who was assassinated in 1990 at the beginning of the first civil war (1989-1997), which was followed closely by a second civil war (1999-2003).

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won her first six-year term in 2005 with 20% of the vote in the first round and 59% in the run-off against George Weah (the former soccer player candidate who won a plurality on Oct. 10 and will face off against Sirleaf's current vice president in the upcoming second round). In the 2011 election, the runoff election was boycotted by the opposition. Sirleaf is popular among international donors and investors but less popular in Liberia, due to continuing corruption and economic challenges. 

Sirleaf has had a falling out with her party. She declined to endorse her vice-president, Joseph Boakai, who has distanced himself from Sirleaf's administration and placed second to Weah in the first round. Some suspect Sirleaf supports Weah. The ruling party accuses Sirleaf of interfering in the first round vote, a charge the president rejects. In a preliminary report, observers described the election as "Generally Peaceful and Transparent."

The second round will be held November 7.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Burkina Faso army orders coup leaders back to barracks; dueling focal points in battle of the sexes

-
Image
Source: AFP In my first post on last week's military coup in Burkina Faso, I predicted that "It is unlikely that the military will remain in power for long." However, I'll be the first to admit I had no idea the coup would end the way it seems to be ending. Quick background: President Compaore's 27-year rule ended on Halloween last year in response to street protests when he and his ruling party, the CDP, tried to remove the term-limits so Compaore could run for another term as president. An interim government planned for elections in October 2015, but a new electoral code banned the CDP and its allies from running. The CDP appealed to the ECOWAS Court, and that Court said the ban violated the former ruling party's human rights, but the Burkina Faso Constitutional Court ignored that ruling and enforced the electoral code, banning the CDP. Meanwhile, a commission of the interim government recommended disbanding Compaore's elite presidential gua
Read more

Another try at catching up

-
I haven't really figured out a way to fit regular blogging into my schedule yet, but I'm making another attempt. A quick summary of some interesting events in Africa, by country, over the past year or so: 1. Algeria: Elections were held in May, but the Arab Spring passed Algeria by . According to the NY Times, " Most Algerians — anywhere from 60 percent to 80 percent — boycotted the vote for a legislature that even officials here concede is do-nothing....   the party in power since independence half a century ago, the FLN, or National Liberation Front, consolidated its aging grip, increasing its majority in the new Parliament....  A finely tuned mix of cash and crackdown, money and repression — a mix unique to the region — has muted demands for change and allowed the ruling elite to retain its grip." 2. Angola: The  People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is still in office after 37 years. " On August 31st Angolans will go to the polls to
Read more

Côte d'Ivoire's election was a troubling return to old conflicts and authoritarian ways

-
Image
You can read the whole thing at the Washington Post's Monkey Cage (someone at WaPo decided to anglicize the country's name). Here are a few excerpts: The challenges of the Ivorian 2020 elections have their roots in conflicts that began 30 years ago, when Ouattara and Bédié were rivals to succeed Félix Houphouët-Boigny , the country’s first president. ... The run-up to the 2020 presidential election appeared to promise further democratic progress, as continued economic prosperity laid the groundwork for stability. A new constitution adopted via a 2016 referendum removed the Ivoirité restriction and included a presidential two-term limit. In March, Ouattara made good on his promise not to seek a third term by designating Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly as the RHDP coalition’s presidential candidate. ...
Read more