POLITICS-LIBERIA: Opposition Leader Calls for Postponement of Elections

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Mar 13 2003 (IPS) - ”The environment is not conducive now for holding of elections, much more needs to be done about security perhaps putting in place a stabilisation force,” says Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, leader of the opposition Unity Party.

”We are calling on the UN contact group on Liberia and all stakeholders to ensure the elections (scheduled for October) are postponed until such a time when a level playing field is created,” Johnson-Sirleaf demands.

Johnson-Sirleaf was a presidential candidate in the 1997 elections but lost to incumbent leader Charles Taylor, for whom the aspiring front-running female politician has no love lost.

”Mr.Taylor is the main obstacle to peace and security in our country,” Johnson-Sirleaf told IPS in Freetown the Sierra Leonean capital this week. ”He (Taylor) could do us a favour by exiting so that we’ll start the real process of democratisation.”

Elections in the war-torn West African country are due in October but the Monrovia government clearly seems to be putting hurdles on the way for the opposition. ”There is this 10-year residency clause in the statutes meant to prevent key opposition figures and there is also the exit visa requirement. This one is designed to intimidate the opposition leaders so that we’ll stay out of the country,” Johnson-Sirleaf said.

The road to the ballot box in Liberia’s political contest is clearly rocky as violence and intimidation of opponents of Taylor rise on a daily basis. About a dozen or so parties would be challenging Taylor’s National Patriotic Party (NPP).

Even though Taylor is being fiercely criticised for gross human rights abuses and poor handling of the economy and the war with rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) in the northwest, there is little chance for the opposition to unseat the dictator if they are not united, analysts believe.

”It is true that we (opposition) have to come together and form a united front that will be capable of removing Mr. Taylor at the polls, but our individual egos and ideological differences are affecting that,” Johnson-Sirleaf told IPS. ”We are certainly working towards that. I know it is not easy but we will get to that point, efforts are underway.”

She anticipates that the campaigning will be bloody if political attacks and intimidation of opposition supporters continue. ”It is my belief that the elections should be postponed in order to create and atmosphere conducive enough for elections to be conducted countrywide,” she said.

Her fears are quite legitimate as they reflect those of the broader majority of Liberians.

For about four years, LURD rebels have been waging a bloody insurgency in a bid to topple Taylor and they do not seem quite enthusiastic in taking part in elections. Most towns and villages in the north and northwest have been destroyed and tens of thousands forced to flee into exile as refugees in neighbouring Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote D’Ivoire. Disenfranchised, these refugees would not take part in the elections.

Liberian analyst Francis Toe, who lives in Freetown, told IPS: ”Any rush into elections would lead to a fraudulent process and make mockery of our democracy. It would certainly legitimise the dictatorship of Charles Taylor. We have to be careful.”

It would be in the interest of Taylor if the country goes to elections in October. His armed supporters have been intimidating opponents and disrupting their rallies. Even the vocal press is intimidated.

”The conflict has to be resolved diplomatically and all stakeholders brought round the table to ensure a level playing field for free and fair elections,” said Johnson-Sirleaf.

Taylor and his officials are facing travel restrictions by the UN and the United States for their alleged engagement in gun-running and diamond smuggling with rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone, fuelling the war in that country.

Liberia, founded by a group of freed slaves in 1847, holds the elections on Oct 14