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12 Things That Happened In the 2014 Parliamentary Elections in Liberia

12 Things That Happened In the 2014 Parliamentary Elections in Liberia

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After delays brought on by the Ebola crisis, Liberia’s parliamentary elections were finally held this month. Voting concluded Dec. 20. Results won’t be formally announced for two weeks but provisional numbers give a fairly accurate assessment of who the winners will be, according to analysts. Here are 12 things that happened in the 2014 parliamentary elections in Liberia.

Sources: BBC.com, VOANews.com, CharlotteObserver.com, AllAfrica.com, News.Yahoo.com, NECLiberia.org

Reuters.com
Reuters.com

The election was originally scheduled for October 2014

According to Liberian law, the Senate vote was originally scheduled for October 2014. It was pushed back twice, and eventually held on Dec. 20, 2014, as the government opted to give the country more time to get the Ebola outbreak under control. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared a state of emergency in Liberia in August 2014 and lifted it in November. The supreme court ruled in early December that the election must be held.

NPR.org
NPR.org

Election campaigning was limited by Ebola concerns

In November, Liberian election commission chairman Jerome Korkoya urged candidates to limit large public gatherings, and to limit transportation of large groups in vehicles.

PressHerald.com
PressHerald.com

Amid Ebola concerns, multiple precautions were taken at polling stations

Ebola has killed at least 7,373 people in West Africa, and 3,346 in Liberia, according to the UN. In light of this, voters who turned out for the Liberian Senate vote had their temperature taken at polling stations and had to stand one meter apart. Each voter was also asked to wash their hands before and after voting. Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah warned that anyone with a temperature higher than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) would be removed from line and asked to cast their ballot in a separate screening area, followed by an extra screening. There were rumors that some of the 4,700 thermometers and 10,000 bottles of sanitizer intended for election day did not arrive on time.

NYTimes.com
NYTimes.com

Turnout for the vote was extremely low

In addition to concerns over Ebola, low voter turnout was attributed to Liberian dissatisfaction with elected officials. As Korkoya said, “The most popular reason (for low turnout) is that voters in most places, not just Liberia, get dissatisfied with the performance of their elected officials and sometimes they believe that not going to the polls is one way to penalize them. That is voter apathy.” Turnout was estimated at 27.9 percent of the eligible voting population.

Source: VOANews.com

VOANews.com
VOANews.com

Opposition parties did better than expected

For the Senate vote, 139 candidates were on the ballots, giving the 1.9 million registered voters in Liberia plenty of options. Fifteen of the 30 seats in the upper house of parliament were being contested in the election, and opposition parties seemed to have the edge in the race, winning at least 10 of the open seats. Virtually all the candidates supported by Sirleaf lost in the election.

Sources: AllAfrica.com, NECLiberia.org

AfricaTopSports.com
AfricaTopSports.com

Former football star George Weah won a crowded race in Montserrado Country

George Weah, a former football star and founder of the Congress for Democratic Change party (as well as a two-time failed presidential candidate), led by a wide margin over his opponent in the race for Montserrado County’s senate seat. Robert Sirleaf, the president’s son, was the second-place runner up, taking less than 12 percent of the vote. Though the elections commission has two weeks following the vote to release final results, Weah received nearly 80 percent of the vote, and his supporters have already begun celebrating his victory.

LiberianObserver.com
LiberianObserver.com

The president pro tempore, Gbehzongar Findley, lost his seat

In a surprising move, the incumbent and second-highest-ranking official of the Senate, Gbehzongar Findley, lost his seat in Grand Bassa Country to the relatively unknown candidate from the Liberty Party, Jonathan Kaiplay. Findley had been heavily supported by Sirleaf, and was thought to have his seat locked down in the election.

Legislature.gov.lr
Legislature.gov.lr

Jewel Howard Taylor, wife of former President Charles Taylor, also won a seat

Jewel Howard Taylor, the former first lady and wife of controversial Charles Taylor, regained her Senate seat in Bong County. She is often described as Liberia’s “Iron Lady” and was the only woman running against 12 men for the seat.

WorldBank.org
WorldBank.org

Observers say the voting trend seems to suggest a protest vote against Sirleaf

The success of new challengers and opposition parties in the Senate vote suggest the Liberian people’s dissatisfaction with Sirleaf’s administration, especially amidst the country’s difficulties in containing the Ebola outbreak. Rodney Sieh, publisher and managing editor of “FrontPage Africa,” said, “I think the immediate concern right now is that the results so far point to what many are considering to be a protest vote against the presidency because all of the candidates the president supported are on the verge of losing their seats.”

Source: VOANews.com

HuffPost.com
HuffPost.com

Some election workers have claimed they were robbed of benefits

Election workers in several regions complained they were not given fair compensation for their efforts, and that workers in Montserrado County were given higher wages than other regions. They called on Liberia’s National Elections Commission to give full wages as promised in pre-election workshops.

UN.org
UN.org

The election was held during a visit from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was on a two-day visit to West Africa reviewing the region’s efforts to control the Ebola outbreak. He began his visit in Liberia and spoke about the election. “This election will give Liberia and its people an opportunity to show the world how far it has come.”

Source: AllAfrica.com

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

The election suggests no party will singlehandedly win in 2017

Despite opposition parties’ significant gains in the midterm parliamentary elections, it’s thought that no one party will win a landslide victory in the next presidential election in 2017. While the Liberty Party won a significant block of the open seats, it will have to focus on on consensus building over the next two years as it realigns to a better-suited political configuration for 2017.

Source: AllAfrica.com