The key issues at stake in Liberia’s presidential election | Elections News | USAEMALL.com

Monrovia, Liberia – Liberians will end up to vote on Tuesday in a ballot as present president George Weah seeks a second six-year time period.

On October 10, Liberians will vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections.

There are 15 seats in the Senate and 73 seats in the House of Representatives which are up for grabs on Tuesday however consideration is generally targeted on the presidential ballot.

Current president George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), elected in 2017, is contesting in opposition to 19 different candidates together with former Vice President Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party (UP) and businessman Alexander Cummings of the Collaborating Political Party (CPP).

This would be the nation’s fourth post-war presidential election however the first one with out the presence of the United Nations mission which supplied assist to the nation’s elections fee.

Analysts say the election is a referendum on the ruling occasion’s stint in energy up to now.

“In this election, most people will be more voting primarily for or against the ruling party and its policies as opposed to voting based on the strength or quality of the opposition,” mentioned Joshua Kulah, a lecturer of political science at the University of Liberia.

Drug use

As Liberians head to the polls, the nation is battling with elevated drug use.

According to the United Nations Population Fund in 2022, two in 10 youths in Liberia use narcotic substances. Liberia has additionally seen a number of seizures of unlawful medication in current instances. In October 2022, safety forces seized 520kg of cocaine – estimated to be value round $100m – imported into the nation. Four males have been arrested and tried in connection to the drug seizure, on expenses of trafficking and legal conspiracy. However, the courts dominated that the lads weren’t responsible.

The authorities additionally admitted to shedding monitor of the suspects after their acquittal whereas the judgment was below evaluate by the Supreme Court, prompting a debate across the state’s dealing with of the difficulty.

All candidates have recognised the rise of drug smuggling and spoken about it on the marketing campaign path.

Speaking throughout a radio look in June 2023, Boakai mentioned that the nation was “fast gaining notoriety as a transshipment country for illicit narcotics”. He added that the dealing with of the drug scandal confirmed “failure of national leadership, a weak and criminal justice system, and crucially raises suspicion about the probable complicity of some higher-ups in the drug affair”.

President Weah has additionally acknowledged the state of affairs, stating in his manifesto that the federal government “will treat drug addiction as a national health emergency like COVID-19 and the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)” and promising to strengthen the safety sector “to intervene robustly in drug interdiction”.

Civil struggle

This August was the twentieth anniversary of the top of the second civil struggle in which half of the nation was displaced and as many as a quarter-million individuals reportedly died.

In its ultimate report in 2009, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission really useful that a number of people – together with then-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – be banned from holding public workplace and a struggle crimes courtroom be established, however these suggestions have been by no means carried out.

CPP’s Cummings has dedicated to establishing one. Weah, whose operating mate is the ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor, has additionally promised to assist the creation of a struggle and financial crimes courtroom.

In his manifesto, Boakai who’s now in an alliance with Prince Johnson, a warlord-turned-senator promised to organise a National Peace and Reconciliation Conference to “pursue a genuine path for total reconciliation and recovery for victims, survivors, families, communities, ethnic groups and citizenry”.

But Johnson has condemned the institution of the courtroom and had promised to not marketing campaign for anybody who helps a struggle crimes courtroom on a number of events.

Corruption

Widespread corruption has lengthy been a problem in Liberia, always decreasing belief in authorities. Furthermore, Weah’s first time period has been affected by a number of corruption scandals.

In 2018, information stories of a container of $100m (18 billion Liberian {dollars}) going lacking and the alleged mishandling of a $25m money injection scheme to mop up extra Liberian {dollars} available on the market sparked protests.

Johnson was additionally sanctioned by the United States for being “involved in pay-for-play funding with government ministries and organisations for personal enrichment” and for providing “the sale of votes in multiple Liberian elections in exchange for money”. He is operating for re-election on Tuesday.

In 2022, the US additionally sanctioned Weah’s chief of employees, the solicitor common, and the top of the nation’s port authority.  The officers have been initially suspended and later resigned.

Weah and his supporters say a brand new regulation in July 2022 granting the anticorruption fee prosecutorial energy, is proof of his administration’s struggle in opposition to corruption. However, opponents level out that two of the officers sanctioned by the US in 2022 are operating for parliamentary seats on the platform of the ruling occasion.

Economic issues

The economic system stays the principal challenge for a lot of voters. Figures from the Central Bank of Liberia present that inflation stood at 12.36 % in June 2023, and whereas there is no such thing as a dependable knowledge on labour, an estimated 4 in 5 Liberian staff are informally employed, in accordance with the 2022 United States Investment Climate Statements.

“Corruption is an unending story and will influence votes, however, the deciding factor will be the issues around the economy which affect Liberians directly,” mentioned Kulah.

The elimination of subsidy on rice, a significant staple in the nation, led to a subsequent enhance in its value and opposition-led protests in December 2022. But even earlier than then, a 2019 wage harmonisation train lowered the salaries of presidency staff.

All of this has led to elevated prices of residing, because the ripple impact from international occasions continues to affect the nation.

“Liberia’s economy has not had the best outlook in the past few years due to external and internal factors which include the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and domestic policies,” mentioned Ibrahim al-Bakri Nyei, researcher and director at Monrovia-based Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research. “Security and corruption also affected the government’s ability to attract adequate foreign direct investment which affected their ability to provide jobs. Consequently, this will have implications at the polls” he added.