Sirleaf Johnson
THE call by candidate of opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Winston Tubman, on his supporters to boycott tomorrow’s run-off election in Liberia on the grounds that it would not be transparent has finally dampened the high spirit expected in the polls compared to the initial first voting held few weeks ago.
Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, was busy yesterday, with no sign of the election fever, which gripped the nation before last month’s first round, and only President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s Unity Party slowly gearing up for a rally later in the day.
The election has been billed as a chance for the country to cement its fragile democracy eight years after the end of a long and savage conflict left some 250,000 people dead, and the international community has condemned the boycott.
“We are very concerned. It’s a bad signal.... political leaders must be prepared to win or lose,” the head of the African Union observer mission, Speciosa Wadira Kazibwe, a former Ugandan vice-president, told journalists.
Also, the United States on Saturday said it was “deeply disappointed” by the boycott call, as the October 11 elections “were fair, free and transparent.”
State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a statement that claims that “the first-round election was fraudulent is unsubstantiated.”
Meanwhile, West Africa’s political bloc, ECOWAS, said it “deeply regrets the retrogressive tone” of Tubman’s statement, and urged all involved “not to miss this historic opportunity of consolidating democracy and peace in the country.”
Tubman claims the first round, in which he placed second with 32.7 per cent, was flawed by voting irregularities, and has made several demands in advance of the run-off, securing the resignation of polls chief James Fromayan.
He said he is still not satisfied the process will be transparent and is demanding several “administrative arrangements” including that CDC representatives be allowed to observe the counting process.
The boycott led to a bitter war of words between rivals on Saturday as each called press conferences to condemn the other.
Johnson-Sirleaf, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize shortly before the first round, accused Tubman of holding the country hostage by calling for a boycott.
“He has told people to violate the constitution ... When you start violating the constitution, where do you stop?” Johnson-Sirleaf said.
Tubman responded: “To call for a boycott is a constitutionally guaranteed right ... an expression of my free speech.”
Johnson-Sirleaf, who made history when she became Africa’s first elected female president in 2005, said Tubman was “forfeiting the right to the finals because he fears defeat.”
She has the upper hand heading to the run-off, after winning 43.9 percent of votes cast in the first round, and has managed to secure the support of key smaller parties for the second round.
Ciafa G Clarke, 29, an economics student and Tubman supporter told AFP that if the vote went ahead “it will cause an inconvenience, the vast majority of the people will not recognise the regime. We are going to abstain from the process we feel it is not transparent.”
UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged rival sides to maintain calm and “not to resort to violence despite political disagreement, and to ensure that the peace in Liberia is maintained.”
Liberia, Africa’s oldest independent state, was founded by freed American slaves in 1847 and is still scarred by the 14-year civil war which shattered infrastructure and the economy.
Johnson-Sirleaf, who is hailed abroad for her role in rebuilding the nation, has said she wants a second term to rebuild the “broken country” which is still heavily reliant on an 8,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.
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