Political activity has stepped up in the runup to the October 10 elections, as candidates make their final push for Liberia’s presidency and 73 House of Representatives (lower house) seats.
Six candidates have so far dominated the presidential campaign: Joseph Boakai, the incumbent vice president and candidate of the ruling Unity Party (UP); Senator George Weah, standing for the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC); Lawyer Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party (LP); Businessman Benoni Urey of the All Liberian Party (ALP); former Coca Cola executive Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), and former Central Bank Governor, Joseph Mills Jones of the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE).
Major parties’ presidential candidates have rallied supporters in efforts to display their prominence, especially in Monrovia and urban centers around the country. Tens of thousands of people have gathered on the streets of the capital, at football stadiums, or at party headquarters. All parties’ rallies are characterized by a festive atmosphere fueled by young people, colorful paraphernalia, vehicle convoys, and blaring music.
All major party standard-bearers are now visiting outlying counties to drum up support for their candidacies as well as their parties’ local legislative candidates.
Enthusiastic attendance at rallies provides a stark contrast to quiet, sometimes empty local offices of political parties, evidence that most parties lack organization outside of their central headquarters.
The campaigns for the House of Representatives have relied more on direct outreach rather than mass rallies, with emphasis on smaller local gatherings, such as community meetings and door-to-door messaging.
While calm overall, on September 20 the campaign was marked with a violent clash between CDC and LP supporters in northeastern Nimba County when a CDC convoy reportedly attempted to drive through a gathering of partisans blocking the main road in front of the local Liberty Party headquarters. The incident was followed a few days later by a skirmish between the supporters of the CDC and Unity Party in Montserrado County (where the capital Monrovia is situated). which resulted in two critical stabbing injuries, as well as property damage. Interlocutors have expressed concern about the involvement of weapons in the clash, as well as the fact that the clash was preventable had parties complied with the requests issued by security forces to inform them in advance of their campaign plans, and also that weapons were involved. After this incident, the CDC standard-bearer condemned the election violence and asked supporters to refrain from using violence during the campaign. The Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) publicly called on the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the Liberian National Police (LNP) to take appropriate actions against violations and met privately with political parties to emphasize the importance of their commitment to the Ganta and Farmington River resolutions. The LNP investigation is ongoing.
The Nimba County clash was followed two days later by an altercation between supporters of CDC and UP legislative candidates in Montserrado County. Margibi has seen repeated clashes between partisans in the second legislative district. In Fish Town, in the southeastern River Gee County, a CDC vehicle was damaged during a rally and there were heated exchanges between legislative candidates during debates or local gatherings. In Lofa, there have been recent clashes in both District 1 between supporters of incumbent UP and challenger LP candidates, and in District 4 between supporters of incumbent UP and challenger MOVEE party candidates.
In Maryland County and northeastern Nimba County there have been reports of candidates collecting voter identification numbers from voters,which could fuel tensions among contenders. Collecting voter identification numbers is not illegal, though it is illegal to buy voter cards.
The practice of collecting voter card numbers is largely perceived as a tool to control and assess a candidate’s support. However, it could also act as a means of intimidating voters into supporting a particular candidate.
There have also been several reports of buying voter cards, a tactic for suppressing an opponent’s turnout. Other than a recent arrest in Nimba county of one individual charged with buying cards, reports are widespread but unverified.
There have been an increasing number of reports from Bong county of candidates hearkening back to the Charles Taylor era as a way to mobilize the former president’s base of support. One CDC legislative candidate said from the podium at a major rally, “Let me borrow from our former President that ‘God’s willing, I will be back’ [an infamous line from Taylor’s farewell speech as he left the country in 2003 for asylum in Nigeria] and Senator Taylor represents former Liberian President Charles Taylor on the ticket.”
Many religious leaders have played a positive role by insisting on the importance of peaceful elections. However, others have spread partisan messages. Across Liberia, interlocutors report religious and other community facilities receiving such gifts as electricity upgrades, furniture and cash from political aspirants.
Most political parties intend to deploy party agents in the polling places on election day, a program that will enable them to identify potential irregularities and independently verify polling place-level results.
Party agents are playing more than a self-interested role; their presence in a polling place during the voting process gives them the chance to count the number of people voting and allows them at the end of the day to compare that number with the number of ballots cast. This will be a critical check on the integrity of the system, since NEC procedures do not include the crucial step of reconciling the number of voters against the number of ballots cast.
SOURCE: NDI
SOURCE: NDI
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