Liberia
The Republic of Liberia performs in the middle range across all four categories in the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) framework. It ranks among the top 25 per cent of countries in Freedom of Expression, and the bottom 25 per cent in Basic Welfare, Economic Equality, and Absence of Corruption. Over the last five years, there has been a significant improvement in Elected Government. Liberia has one of the lowest GDPs per capita in the world, and the economy relies on agriculture, and services.
Present-day Liberia experienced significant growth as many groups migrated towards the coast as the Mali and Songhai empires declined. By the time Europeans began trading along the coast, ethnically-based political communities were well established. The modern state of Liberia has its institutional roots in the American Colonization Society’s initiative to establish a home for born-free and formerly enslaved Black people. The society negotiated an agreement with indigenous leaders to establish a community on the coast in 1821, and Liberia declared its independence in 1847. The settler-dominated state did not govern its claimed territory inland until the 20th century as inland expansion faced strong resistance from indigenous peoples.
This manner of state formation has had political consequences, as the Americo-Liberian/Congo settler community (though a very small portion of the total population) has been politically dominant and historically marginalized the highly-diverse indigenous communities. Poverty is endemic; almost half the population is moderately or severely food insecure, and the economic devastation caused by Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic entrenched Liberia’s status as one of the poorest countries globally. This is made worse by high-level graft and weak service provision. Infrastructural deficiencies have hampered Liberia’s ability to exploit its vast wealth of natural resources, and “blood” diamonds have fueled conflicts and invited foreign sanctions.
Liberia experienced two devastating civil wars between 1989 and 2003, driven largely by economic deprivation and a power struggle between various armed factions. Approximately 250 000 people were killed during the conflicts, and there were gross human rights violations, such as rape, sexual slavery, and the recruitment of child soldiers. Former rebel leader Charles Taylor served as president between 1997 and 2003. He was ultimately convicted for war crimes in Liberia and neighboring Sierra Leone.
The post-war government, under Africa’s first female head of state – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – authorized the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (LTRC), which found that the underlying causes of conflict included poverty and corruption. Tension between Americo-Liberian and indigenous groups remains a fault line in the country, and the 2017 victory by President George Weah was celebrated by some citizens as a win for indigenous Liberians. However, recent elections have also shown that Liberian politics may be in a period of realignment, where parties and ethnicity have declining salience. In addition, women’s parliamentary representation remains low, and women continue to face high rates of domestic violence and poor access to modern family planning methods.
Liberia’s future prospects for democratic stability and civil liberties are strong, given how strongly rooted electoral competition has become since the civil wars ended. Weah’s prompt concession to Joseph Boakai in the 2024 election was widely celebrated in the region. In addition, progress in its public administration has been noted as a positive step toward better governance. It will be important to watch the government’s moves to grow the economy, reduce corruption, improve public services, and promote independent civil society and media. Major obstacles to democratic consolidation overlap considerably with the root cause of its wars: economic deprivation. With this in view, Basic Welfare and Rule of Law (including Absence of Corruption) should be monitored moving forward.
(Last updated August 2024)
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
May 2024
President signs executive order to establish war crimes and economic crimes courts
On 2 May, President Joseph Boakai signed an executive order paving the way for the establishment of a Special War Crimes Court for Liberia and an anti-corruption court. The former is to prosecute people and organisations responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Liberian civil war (1979-2003). This court will be an international tribunal established by the Liberian government in conjunction with international partners but its jurisdiction and location are yet to be determined. The executive order follows a parliamentary resolution in April calling for the establishment of such a court and it represents the first domestic attempt to hold perpetrators legally accountable for the massacres, rape and torture carried out during the conflict. The anti-corruption court will be domestic and have the ‘power to adjudicate matters involving acts of corruption’ committed during the civil war. Legislation will need to be passed by parliament to establish this court.
Sources: The President of the Republic of Liberia, New York Times, The Africa Report, British Broadcasting Corporation
November 2023
Joseph Boakai wins in second round of the presidential election
In the first round of the presidential election in October, leading candidates Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) and incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) were separated by less than one per cent of the vote. Voters were asked to choose between these top two candidates in a second round on 14 November. The official results from the National Elections Commission gave Boakai 50.6 per cent, while Weah received 49.4 per cent. Turnout was 66.1 per cent of registered voters, down from 78.8 per cent in the general election (including the first round of the presidential election) in October. Weah was quick to concede to Boakai and made a public statement urging his supporters to accept the result of the election. His support for the electoral process was widely celebrated in the region. Observers from the European Union stated that the second round was well conducted, and some of the procedural problems in the first round had been corrected.
Sources: National Elections Commission, Reuters, News24, European Union
October 2023
General election returns victory for incumbent party in House of Representatives – Presidential race goes to second round
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October. Voters chose all the members of the House of Representatives, half the members of the Senate, and also voted in the first round of the presidential election. Turnout was 79 per cent of registered voters, up from 72 per cent in 2017. Incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) was slightly ahead in the first round with 43.8 per cent support, closely followed by Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) who received 43.4 per cent of the votes. Liberians will choose between these two leading candidates in the second round in November. The CDC increased its seat share in the House of Representatives, gaining four seats for a total of 25 (out of the 73 seats), while the UP lost 10 seats, for a new count of 10. No party has a majority in the House, and 18 independent candidates were elected. While there were 153 female candidates, only 9 were elected (a gain of one). Election observers noted logistical and technical problems in the process preparing for the election, but positively assessed the election day processes in the vast majority of polling places. However, nine temporary staff members of the National Elections Commission were arrested for electoral fraud.
Sources: National Elections Commission, Global News Network Liberia, Africa Report, Reuters, European Union Election Observation Mission, International IDEA, The New Dawn
March 2023
President Weah vetoes portions of act to amend electoral law
As part of the preparations for the October 2023 general elections in Liberia, the legislature passed an act to amend portions of the electoral law in October 2022. On 16 March 2023, President George Weah approved the act, but used his line-item veto power to strike down several sections of the act, citing their non-conformity with other laws or duplication of existing law. The sections vetoed by the President include paragraphs that would have created a new independent body to hear complaints about the conduct of elections. The act had been alternatively criticized and praised for its various provisions. A revision that gives the gender quota (requiring that 30 per cent of the candidates in each party list are women) an enforcement mechanism via delisting parties that do not comply was approved by the President. The amended law will also allow diasporan Liberians to vote if they have valid Liberian identification (including passports). However, opposition parties have noted with concern that the new law significantly raises the filing fees for would-be candidates for office.
Sources: AllAfrica (1), Executive Mansion of Liberia, Front Page Africa, Daily Observer, AllAfrica (2), The New Dawn
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