-As Liberians go to the polls tomorrow
By Jerromie S. Walters
As it remains a crucial and a proven fact that violence has no place in democratic processes- a Liberian female legal practitioner- Atty. Bowoulo Taylor Kelley, the Vice President of Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia wants Liberian electorate to confine themselves in the most peaceful and tolerant way (s) possible- as they go to the polls tomorrow.
Like several other patriotic Liberians, Atty. Bowoulo Taylor Kelley stresses the need for Liberians to remember that their actions have consequences, and any attempt by them to exhibit violence in these processes, it will undermine the country’s progress and weaken the citizens.
The Vice President of Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia joins scores of other individuals to honestly heighten calls for peace- as Liberians go to the polls tomorrow. In what she characterized as a “Simple message” for Liberian electorate, the female legal practitioner emphasized the need for tolerance by all parties during and after the elections.
“My simple message is: Non violence, and the conduct of a peaceful polls. Tolerance and temperance by all parties during and after the elections,” she states. Atty. Bowoulo Taylor Kelley adds- “Respect for human rights and the rule of law should be the primary focus of the electorate as the right to vote and to be voted for is a right to be enjoyed by all. All hail Liberia hail one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Liberia is expected to conduct its presidential and legislative elections comes Tuesday, October 10, 2023. The National Elections Commission (NEC) puts the exact figure of electorate at two-million-four-hundred-seventy-one-thousand-six-hundred-seventeen.
The figure was contained in data from the final voter roll released on Monday, July 17, 2023, by the NEC Chairperson, Davidetta Browne-Lansanah. The release of the statistics followed the conclusion of what Commissioner Browne-Lansanah called de-duplication and adjudication of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) provisional roll.
President George Weah will face about 19 opponents at Tuesday’s polls- amid mounting anger over corruption and soaring food prices. If it goes to a second round of voting, three stand out as possible rivals to Weah, a former international football star who in 2017 won more than 61 percent in the second round. His election victory then sparked high hopes of change in one of the countries on the planet still reeling from civil war and disease.
Weah had spent the previous decade building political credibility, including three years in the Senate, to match his sporting icon status. Today, the 58-year-old is campaigning hard to convince Liberians that he can still do better.
– Joseph Boakai: out for revenge –
Losing candidate in the final round of voting in 2017, Joseph Boakai looks to be on his last bid for the presidency at the age of 78. He has served the state for four decades.
Vice president to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from 2006 to 2018, Boakai can boast of his years of experience.
But the agriculture minister in the government of presidentSamuel Doe has been branded negatively by opponents, who suggest it’s time to retire. Boakai is from the indigenous population, like George Weah, and not the US-Liberian elite, who founded the free nation and were descended from slaves.Boakai calls himself an ordinary, honest man from a modest background who had to work hard.
He says integrity has marked his long career which has included criticism of the Weah administration’s links to several corruption scandals. He is running on a platform to improve infrastructure, invest in agriculture, attract investors, open up Liberia to tourists and restore the nation’s image.
Boakai has long been preparing for the election as the candidate for the Unity Party, one of the leading political groups in Liberia.
He has struck an alliance with former warlord and Senator Prince Johnson, who had backed Weah in 2017, and retains strong support in his home province of Nimba in the north. That has helped keep him among the favorites to reach the second round of voting.
Alexander Cummings: businessman -Alexander Cummings, 66, has presented himself as a good manager with skills and knowledge from a long career in business that his rivals do not have. In 2017, he came 5th, with just 7.2 percent of the vote. But he can count on Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, his running mate this time around – the daughter of former political heavyweight Cllr. Charles Brumskine, who garnered 9.6 percent last time and finished third.
Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe: human rights lawyer –
Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe was tortured and came close to death during Liberia’s wars. He has spent half his life pleading for war crimes to be punished. The 67-year-old describes his run for the presidency as a “breath of fresh air” on his website. It’s the first time the lawyer is taking his case to the voters, but he is far from a political novice.
Prosecutor general and then Labour minister under president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from 2006 to 2010, corruption is his major target. Gongloe, also from Nimba, vows to help the poorest and to ease access to education. He uses a broom as his symbol, promising to clean up the mess left by bad governance and finally put those responsible for the horrors of the 1989-2003 civil war in the dock.
