2005 Liberian general election

Presidential and parliamentary elections took place in Liberia on October 11, 2005. The country has been led by a transitional government since October 2003—which took office following the resignation and departure into exile of President Charles Taylor in August 2003, as part of a deal to end the country's second civil war—and these elections mark the end of the transition. The first round of the presidential election was won by George Weah, but he did not receive a majority of the vote, and a run-off will take place on 8 November between the former soccer star and the candidate in second place, former World Bank employee and finance minister, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Important dates and regulations

Frances Johnson-Morris, the chairwoman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), announced the October 11 date on February 7, 2005, and said that results would be announced no later than October 26. She also said that candidates would have until mid-August to apply to run, and that a registration campaign for eligible voters would be held from April 25 to May 21.¹

After counting the votes in the first round, no candidate had received a majority, and a run-off has been scheduled for 8 November between presidential candidates George Weah and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The two candidates are likely to seek support from the other candidates in the days leading to this final round.

The lower house of the new parliament will have 64 seats; each of Liberia's 15 counties will have two seats, and the remaining 34 seats will be allotted proportionally based on voter registration.⁵ The Senate will have 30 seats.

George Weah

As of February, 18 parties had registered. 22 people registered as presidential candidates, including football (soccer) star George Weah, considered by many to be the favorite in the election;² his popularity is at least partially a manifestation of widespread dissatisfaction with Liberia's politicians. Weah, who had been the subject of a petition published in September 2004 urging him to run,³ announced his candidacy in mid-November 2004 and received a hero's welcome when he arrived in Monrovia later in the month.⁴ LURD rebel leader Sekou Conneh is also a notable contender. [1]

Excluded candidates

These are Liberia's first elections since a victory by Taylor and his National Patriotic Party in the July 1997 elections, which some did not consider fully free and fair. The chairman of the transitional government, Gyude Bryant, and other members of the transitional government will not run, according to the terms of the peace deal.

On August 13, the election commission published a list of 22 presidential candidates who were cleared to run; six candidates were rejected, but Weah was cleared to stand despite complaints that he had adopted French citizenship. The Senate seats were contested by 206 candidates and the seats in the lower house were contested by 503 candidates. [2] Campaigning for the elections began on August 15.

In late September, the Supreme Court ruled that two excluded presidential candidates, Marcus Jones and Cornelius Hunter, and an excluded legislative candidate could register to run; this ruling created the possibility that the elections would have to be postponed in order to reprint ballot papers. However, these candidates later withdrew their bids, so the elections went ahead on schedule on October 11.⁶

Presidential candidates

Nathaniel Barnes — Liberian Destiny Party (LDP) Charles Brumskine — Liberty Party (LP) Sekou Conneh — Progressive Democratic Party (PRODEM) Samuel Raymond Divine — Independent David Farhat — Free Democratic Party (FDP) Armah Jallah — National Party of Liberia (NPL) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf — Unity Party (UP) George Kiadii — National Vision Party of Liberia (NATVIPOL) George Klay Kieh — New Deal Movement (NDM) Joseph Korto — Liberia Equal Rights Party (LERP) Robert Kpoto — Union of Liberian Democrats (ULD) Alhaji G.V. Kromah — All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP)

Roland Massaquoi — National Patriotic Party (NPP) John Morlu — United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Alfred Reeves — National Reformation Party (NRP) Varney Sherman — Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) Togba-Nah Tipoteh — Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) Margaret Tor-Thompson — Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia (FAPL) Winston Tubman — National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) William V.S. Tubman, Jr. — Reformed United Liberia Party (RULP) George Weah — Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Joseph Woah-Tee — Labor Party of Liberia (LPL)

Preliminary Results

Presidential Elections

Candidate (Party)		First Round		Second Round
		Number of Votes	% of Votes	Number of Votes	% of Votes
George Weah (CDC)		272,283	28.4%
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (UP)		189,053	19.7%
Charles Brumskine (LP)		131,838	13.7%	-	-
Winston Tubman (NDPL)		87,819	9.2%	-	-
Varney Sherman (COTOL)		75,769	7.9%	-	-
Roland Massaquoi (NPP)		39,822	4.1%	-	-
Joseph Korto (LERP)		31,781	3.3%	-	-
Alhaji G.V. Kromah (ALCOP)		26,905	2.8%	-	-
Togba-Nah Tipoteh (APD)		22,723	2.4%	-	-
William V.S. Tubman, Jr. (RULP)		14,893	1.6%	-	-
John Morlu (UDA)		11,947	1.2%	-	-
Nathaniel Barnes (LDP)		9,166	1.0%	-	-
Margaret Tor-Thompson (FAPL)		8,262	0.9%	-	-
Joseph Woah-Tee (LPL)		5,839	0.6%	-	-
Sekou Conneh (PRODEM)		5,418	0.6%	-	-
David Farhat (FDP)		4,435	0.5%	-	-
George Klay Kieh (NDM)		4,406	0.5%	-	-
Robert Kpoto (ULD)		3,793	0.4%	-	-
Armah Jallah (NPL)		3,784	0.4%	-	-
George Kiadii (NATVIPOL)		3,575	0.4%	-	-
Samuel Raymond Divine (Ind.)		3,134	0.3%	-	-
Alfred Reeves (NRP)		3,105	0.3%	-	-
Total Valid Votes		959,750
Invalid/Blank Votes		38,310
Total Votes		998,060
Registered Voters		1,352,557		1,352,557
Voter Turnout		73.8%

• Note: All vote figures (except for the number of registered voters) are based on preliminary results from 3,020 of 3,070 polling stations.

References

1. Agence France-Presse (AFP), "Liberia to hold elections October 11", February 7, 2005.
2. Manchester Evening News, "President George", February 19, 2005.
3. AFP, "Football legend George Weah urged to stand for Liberian presidency", October 3, 2004.
4. Terence Sesay, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Presidential candidate Weah takes Monrovia by storm", November 24, 2004.
5. AFP, "Liberia electoral reform bill signed into law", December 17, 2004.
6. Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Two Liberian candidates stand down to prevent delay of election", October 6, 2005.

External links

General Information

• National Elections Commission
• Liberia 2005: The Road to Democracy
• United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Electoral Division
• United Liberia - Latest News

Candidates

• Ellen for President
• Nat Barnes for President
• Charles Brumskine Campaign Site
• Samuel Raymond Divine Campaign Site
• John Morlu for President
• Varney Sherman for President
• Dr. Togba-Nah Tipoteh for President
• Winston Tubman Campaign Site
• George Weah Campaign Site

Political parties

• Congress for Democratic Change
• Unity Party

Articles

• I am woman, hear my roar Katharine Houreld on the participation of women in the 2005 Liberian election.