Monrovia, Liberia – When the True Whig Party was founded in 1869 by Americo-Liberians, many Liberians were opting to cultivate a political system where the shackles of slavery would be a tale of the past and that the people would inhabit a system where men could live as equals, regardless of their status and ethnicity.
Having ruled the nation for a century under a one-party system, the True Whig Party most likely became more of a burden to the people of Liberia. However, as the people grew conscious of their rights to political freedom, they craved the need to have a multiparty system, believing that the nation’s democracy can only flourish in the midst of competing ideologies and a diversity of political thoughts.
The rallying call of the people then became “multi-party democracy.”.
This consciousness led to the demise of the True Whig Party after its long-term leaders and then President William Tolbert were toppled on April 12, 1980, in a violent coup orchestrated by some members of the Armed Forces of Liberia under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe.
Following the 1980 coup, Sergeant Doe, who led a period of military rule under a governance structure branded the People’s Redemption Council (PRC), took the country to elections in 1985 with the intent of consolidating power and reverting to the clamor for multi-party democracy, which was purportedly among reasons like liberation from years of political bludgeoning, misrule, economic decadence, and marginalization of native Liberians.
Interestñngly, the October 12, 1985 elections, the first after the 1980 coup, were being organized after Liberia approved a new draft Constitution in a referendum that permitted a mixed civilian and military Interim National Assembly of 58 members with Samuel Doe as President.
The 1985 general election was also possible after a ban on political parties was lifted, and, as such, the elections were contested by Doe’s National Democratic Party, the Liberia Action Party, the Unity Party, and the Liberia Unification Party.
Won by Samuel Doe’s National Democratic Party of Liberia, the election was stained by allegations of huge rigging and fraud, with official results unveiling a resounding win of 50.9% of the votes for Doe, a percentage that was more than enough to prevent a runoff. Doe also won a large majority in both houses of the Legislature.
Notwithstanding, the Chairman of the Special Elections Commission (SECOM), lawyer Emmett Harmon, declared in announcing the results that they were “ordained by God.”
Tension Brewed, Liberia’s Democracy Shattered
Initially, it was believed and alleged by several independent observers that Mr. Jackson Doe of the Liberia Action Party, who was officially pronounced runner-up, was the actual winner of the presidential race after it was subsequently revealed that under Samuel Doe’s instructions, ballots were counted in a secret location by his designated staff.
This event ushered-in a period of rift and, subsequently, a devastating epoch for Liberia’s democracy, compounded by increased human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tension perpetrated by the Samuel Doe regime. President Doe initially fell out of favor when he ordered the execution of 13 officials of the Tolbert regime during the heat of the coup; this and more missteps by the Doe regime ignited the first Liberian Civil War in 1989.
Of course, President Doe was overthrown and murdered in 1990 by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), led by warlord Prince Yormie Johnson.
The INPFL was a splinter group of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) – a rebel group led by Charles MacArthur Taylor that started the incursion against the Samuel Doe regime.
What followed the death of Samuel Doe was a state of disorder, a violent period of brutal killings, ethnic cleansing, forced conscriptions, and the use of child soldiers to commit unabated mayhem. Thousands of Liberians fled into exile, while those who left behind were forced to witness their loved ones die of starvation and curable diseases.
A death toll of over 200,000 Liberians was quite sufficient to draw the attention of regional efforts to put an end to the hostility, although there were initial interventions through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which saw the deployment of a combined military force referred to as the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).
However, several attempts, including meetings in Bamako, Mali; Lomé, Togo, and Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, among others, failed to extinguish the flames of the civil crisis.
A subsequent meeting in Banjul, Gambia, in November 1990 under the auspices of ECOWAS, which brought together key actors in the civil fracas, led to the establishment of the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU), headed by Dr. Amos Sawyer. This settlement proved to be effective, but was short-lived as Taylor’s NPFL refused to attend the Banjul meeting and reverted to hostility.
Taylor orchestrated several attacks on Monrovia, including the infamous “Operation Octopus” in 1992 – a siege of the nation’s capital that lasted up to two months. Following this, ECOWAS initiated a peace agreement in Cotonou, Benin, in 1993, and a ceasefire followed in 1995. Heavy fighting in April 1996 ruined Liberia’s chance to host its first post-conflict elections.
At a subsequent accord forum in Abuja, Nigeria, warring factions agreed to disarmament, demobilization, and holding an election in 1997.
First Post-War Elections, Taylor Becomes President
Amid the violence and unjustifiable killings witnessed by Liberians, many opted for peace and the preservation of the country’s democracy. This was achieved when Charles Taylor was overwhelmingly elected President on July 19, 1997. On August 2, 1997, interim leader Ruth Sando Perry handed power to President Taylor.
Taylor’s misrule, and tyranny against the Liberian people, as well as his role in the Sierra Leone civil crisis, made him a notorious world criminal, but not until long after the nation was plunged into its Second Civil War in 1999. Taylor was ousted and taken to Nigeria for refuge; he was later sentenced in a trial in The Hague in 2003.
Taylor’s rule was followed by an interim arrangement headed by prominent Liberian businessman Charles Gyude Bryant, who then set the pace for an election in 2005 that brought Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to power. She was Liberia’s and Africa’s first female president.
Having served two terms of six years each, Madam Sirleaf honorably retired, setting the stage for the George Manneh Weah presidency. Weah defeated former Vice President Joseph Boakai in a landmark election in 2017,
Mr. Boakai humbly accepted the results of the elections and committed to fostering Liberia’s democratic march.
Six years later, President Weah was defeated by Boakai in another democratic poll in November 2023.
As a mark of his commitment to Liberia’s democratic process, President Weah generously conceded defeat, a move that has been generally described as an icing on the democratic cake of the country.
Regional bodies, including the AU and ECOWAS, as well as international ones, have commended President . Weah for preserving Liberia’s peace through his early concession of defeat, thus engendering a peaceful post-election.
It is obvious that the country’s hard-won peace and democratic credentials are being adequately protected, as shown by President Weah.
Over 250,000 Liberians died during Liberia’s civil fracas; their deaths are an effigy of great memories that even in the midst of dissatisfaction, Liberians will always choose peace over guns and senseless civil conflict.
By Wilfred S. Gortor
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