The history of Liberia is intricately tied with that of the United States. This explains why American lawmakers will never tire of showing close interest in the political and socio-economic development of that West African country. The American legislature, formally known as the US Congress, has passed a resolution calling for free, fair and peaceful elections in Liberia for the polls slated for next week. The resolution was introduced by Senator Christopher Coons of Delaware and Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey.
According to a report from Washington DC, the resolution states that the US and Liberia share broad and deep bilateral ties over the course of nearly 200 years of relations. Referring to the commencement of the ties between the two countries, Congress said the US established diplomatic relations with Liberia in 1864 and called for the holding of peaceful elections in Liberia as many people, organizations and countries across the world, are looking forward to a new era, where the first-ever transition from one elected president to another will occur in over seventy years.
The resolution made reference to the thousands of Liberians who died in the country’s protracted civil war from 1989 to 2003, pointing out that an estimated 80,000 people of Liberian ancestry now reside in the US. The two Liberian civil wars took place from 1989 to 1996, before the 1997 special election that brought into power former President Charles Taylor and his subsequent exile in 2003.
The resolution said the people and government of the US have an enduring interest in Liberia’s democratic stability and post-conflict development and recounted the assistance the US had rendered to Liberia since the end of its second civil war in 2003; US support to post-conflict recovery; and a subsequent sustained transition toward broad-based economic growth, improved access to high-quality education, the strengthening of health system, and enhanced socioeconomic welfare for Liberia.
It also listed the “professionalization of the country’s military and civilian security forces, efforts to foster the capacities, accountability, and transparency of government institutions, and the consolidation of participatory democracy” as part of the other positive contributions the US has made to the recovery of Liberia.
About the reintroduction of democratic rule in the country, the resolution noted that in 2005, and again in 2011, the citizens of Liberia elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as their President, making her the first woman to be elected president of an African nation. President Johnson-Sirleaf was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 5, 2007, for defending and advancing the democratic rights of her fellow citizens in the face of house arrest, foreign exile, death threats, and imprisonment, and the Nobel Peace Prize on October 7, 2011, for contributing to the nonviolent struggle for the security and rights of women.
The resolution noted that the government of Liberia has contributed to efforts to foster peace, stability, democratization, as well as regional economic growth, development, and integration in West Africa, as demonstrated by President Johnson-Sirleaf’s role in mediating a peaceful transfer of power in The Gambia in January 2017 and her broader leadership as the 2016- 2017 Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
It has been 73 years now since a peaceful transfer of state power from one elected president to another took place and that was when President Edwin J. Barclay turned over the reins of power to President-elect William V. S. Tubman. As Liberia is holding presidential and legislative elections on the 10th of this month, which will be the country’s first democratic transfer of power since 1944, American lawmakers resolved that their country upholds its commitment to maintain and to foster the enduring relationship between the people and the governments of the US and Liberia.
The dispatch commended President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for efforts to consolidate post-conflict peace-building and democratic gains as well as promote social and economic development and foster ties with the international community, and for her work to advance international gender equality.
The lawmakers urged the government and people of Liberia and all of the country’s political parties to ensure that there are free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections this October and beyond. “We admonish that all parties adhere to the objectives set out in the Ganta and Farmington River Declarations and promote and ensure peaceful conduct of candidates, their supporters, and other citizens of the country generally.”
They also appealed to all parties and independent candidates to “ensure that there are robust civic education and electoral campaign outreach to often politically marginalized groups, including women, urban youth, and rural communities; and raise awareness of and express zero tolerance for violence against women, gender discrimination, or social bias of any nature in the electoral process.”
The US Congress “supports efforts by the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development to assist in election preparations and calls on Liberian citizens to fully participate in the general elections and to pursue legal avenues to resolve any disputes over the results.” It also encourages Liberian civil society organizations to intensify civic and voter education, particularly among women, youth, and rural communities, and in local languages; condemns any external interference in the elections, “including any communication or action by convicted war criminal and former armed faction leader Charles Taylor to influence the elections from prison.”
It also called on the US government and international partners, especially election-focused non-governmental organizations, to continue to support successful elections and Liberia’s anticipated historic democratic post-electoral transition of executive power; and welcomes the expected visit of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the US Congress for her last address as President of Liberia.
