-National Civil Society Council of Liberia Boss describes the October 10, 2023, elections
Considering her assessment on the just ended October 10, 2023, presidential and legislative elections- Madam Loretta Pope-Kai, the Head of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL), says the elections were successful at all levels but largely not gender sensitive.
“I am humbly to be afforded the opportunity to share my assessment on the electoral processes in Liberia with an attention of women participation in politics. This is, as far as I know, the first post-election reflection and assessment session.As you all may know, three democratic elections had been held in 2005, 2011, and 2017 since Liberia civil war ended. In January 2018, the first democratic transition since 1944 took place.”
She recalled- “This is Liberia’s fourth elections since the war. Sadly, the results from all the three elections revealed the level of women’s political participation remains dismally low, usually declining. The results from the just- ended legislative elections revealed only, 11 or 10.68% of the 150 women legislative candidates won. This means nothing has changed and it even suggests the level of women’s political participation in the legislature is stagnated. Though electoral processes do not only include women’s participation in electoral contests, this is the crux of the matter. Therefore, my contribution to the topic: “An Assessment of the Electoral Processes in Liberia with Emphasis on Women Participation in Politics” will largely be limited to women’s participation in electoral contest while parading related issues such as women’s participation as voters and campaign workers. Liberia electoral processes involve several stages; namely: legal framework; planning, budgeting, and resource mobilization; training; voter’s education; registration and nomination; voter’s and civic education; electoral campaign; Election Day; and post-election review.”
“I had always argued that the way these processes are designed and administered significantly impact the extent to which women part take in the country’s electoral politics. It therefore follows that addressing gender imbalances and inequality to promote women’s political participation require deliberate actions to assess, analyze, and take actions in order that the structural and institutional barriers to women’s political participation are removed. My assessment and analysis will attempt to briefly scope all the stages in the country’s electoral cycle. Regarding the legal framework, there is still limited or no legal provisions such as temporary special measures to address the historic disadvantages women continue to face in politics. It is common knowledge that the much coveted 4.5 provision in the proposed New Election Law was not passed by the president of Liberia. This tends to entrench the practices of male dominance, hegemony, and tokenism. As a result, we observed at the stage of candidates’ registration, nomination, and accreditation that of the more than 210 women aspirants that desired to contest, 150 actually registered and majority contested as independent with no support of political parties.”
At the planning, budgeting, and resource mobilization stage, she says there were seemingly no deliberate attempts on the part of political parties to scout potential women aspirants and leaders. While the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), the Unity Party, and Alternative National Congress made impressive commitments to include a minimum of 40%, 30% and 50% or so of women candidates on the candidate list, the women of Liberia were let down again. “It was reported that political parties who expressed willingness for women aspirants to run on their tickets refused to allow those women to contest in districts they believe they could be more competitive in. It remains to be seen whether any political party have political training and empowerment program for women. Outside these parties, few local organizations continue to fill the void, training women aspirants, candidates, campaign workers, and young political leaders. My assessment is that the legal frameworks of NEC and political parties alike seemingly remain largely gender insensitive.”
“Voter’s and civic education or CVE, was seemingly weak, likely as a result of untimely donors’ assistance, limited initiatives by national NGOs, and delayed delivery of CVE materials to NGOs. In spite of huge voters’ turn out on Election Day, the result of a weak CVE activity across the country was appalling. There were more than eighty thousand invalid votes. One can only surmise, with high confidence, that invalid votes cast was likely high among women, who are more illiterate than their male counterpart.”
On Election Day, Madam Loretta Pope-Kai, says many of our partners reported that women voters such as breast feeding/lactating mothers, pregnant women, elder women, and women nurses were usually not readily prioritized until an election observer brought the issue to the attention of a worker of the National Elections Commission. Let me backtrack to assessing women’s participation during the campaign period. The level of women’s participation as campaign workers and the extent to which women’s candidates were visible on the campaign fields need to be studied. Civil Society Organizations especially women led CSOs engaged in training women’s campaigners and we look forward to read their accounts of women’s political participation in this respect.”
“However, the limited capacity of women candidates to resource their campaign operations always sprung out during our engagements at various fora and with several candidates. In many cases, women candidates reported how they felt powerless in the wake of huge “vote quid pro” or vote buying, perceived breech of election financing in many ways, and voters’ trucking. These issues persist as some of the “wicked problems” hindering women’s political participation as aspirants and candidates throughout Liberia’s electoral cycle. Violence against Women in Elections and Politics add to this problem.
While it is expected that the VAWIE Platform, the Women Situation Room and the data centers of the Peacebuilding Office as well as those of the Election Coordination Committee will share with us VAWIE-specific report, basic observations by the National Civil Society Council revealed incidents of VAWIE during these elections were likely not alarming compared to the past representative bi-elections and the mid-term senatorial election. This does not mean VAWIE was not an issue.”
She narrates that the reported bulling of former Miss Liberia Madam Wokie Dolo and a violent clash between her supporters and those of a male candidate who was the incumbent, Rev. Samuel Enders makes the case that VAWIE was an issue. “The campaign messages of male political parties were likely usually gender neutral, gender blind, and or gender biased. In many ways, what I would call the “male dominance cartel” stood firmly against women candidates. In counties like Nimba, a major political leader, Senator Prince Johnson continues to entrench himself as King Maker and not a Queen Maker. A number of women candidates, including Candidate Estella of the Sanniquellie-Mah District, District # 3. HeforShe Campaign which was endorsed by the Liberian legislature in August of 2015 is not a buzz words.”
“Collaboration between male and female as well as support from key constituency such as traditional and religious leaders are crucial. But these cohorts, who are the custodian of our cultural values, tend to be less gender aware. Perhaps, the happiest state of the entire electoral processes in terms of women’s political participation is the number of women who served as poll workers. In every polling place, it was reported that the proportion of women and men was usually equal and many women even served as Polling Officers, PO. In addition, victories for women in Grand Cape Mount and Grand Gedeh Counties are historic.”
She concludes- “The County has only had one woman Senator, Ruth Sando Perry (elected 1985) and no women representatives. They now have two women representatives and one woman senator Similarly in Grand Gedeh, one woman was elected as representatives where there have never been any women representatives or senators elected in the county.”
