2005 Liberian general election

Liberian presidential election, 2005

← 1997 11 October and 8 November 2005 2011 →

Nominee Ellen Johnson Sirleaf George Weah Party Unity CDC Running mate Joseph Boakai Rudolph Johnson Popular vote 478,526 327,046 Percentage 59.4% 40.6%

President before election Gyude Bryant LAP Elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Unity

The 2005 Liberian general election was held on 11 October 2005, with a runoff election for the presidency held on 8 November of that year. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and Senate were up for election. The election marked the end of the political transition following Liberia's second civil war and had been stipulated in the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2003. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former World Bank employee and Liberian finance minister, won the presidential contest and became the first democratically elected female African head of state in January 2006.

The election was the first held since the 1997 general election and the election of Charles Taylor and the National Patriotic Party.

Contents

• 
  1 Important dates and regulations
  


• 
  2 George Weah
  


• 
  3 Excluded candidates
  


• 
  4 Presidential candidates
  


• 
  5 Results
  
  
  
  • 
    5.1 Presidential elections
    
  
  
  • 
    5.2 House elections
    
  
  
  • 
    5.3 Senate elections
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  
  
  
  • 
    7.1 General information
    
  
  
  • 
    7.2 Candidates
    
  
  
  • 
    7.3 Political parties
    
  
  
  • 
    7.4 Articles
    
  
  
  
  

Important dates and regulations

Frances Johnson-Morris, the chairwoman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), announced the October 11 date on February 7, 2005.^[1]

Elections were scheduled for all 64 seats in the House of Representatives, with each of Liberia's 15 counties having at least two seats and the remaining seats allotted proportionally based on voter registration.^[2] The Senate had 30 seats up for elections, with two from each county.

George Weah

Prior to the election, former football star George Weah was considered by many to be the favorite, due at least partially to widespread dissatisfaction with Liberia's politicians. Weah, who had been the subject of a petition published in September 2004 urging him to run,^[3] announced his candidacy in mid-November 2004 and received a hero's welcome when he arrived in Monrovia later in the month.^[4] Weah won the first round of voting but lost in the November 8, 2005 run-off. He initially filed formal fraud charges, but subsequently dropped his allegations, citing the interests of peace.

Excluded candidates

The chairman of the transitional government, Gyude Bryant, and other members of the transitional government did not run, according to the terms of the peace deal.^{[citation needed]}

On August 13, the election commission published a list of 22 presidential candidates who were cleared to run; six candidates were rejected, but Weah was cleared to stand despite complaints that he had adopted French citizenship. The Senate seats were contested by 206 candidates and the seats in the lower house were contested by 503 candidates. [1] Campaigning for the elections began on August 15.

In late September, the Supreme Court ruled that two excluded presidential candidates, Marcus Jones and Cornelius Hunter, and an excluded legislative candidate could register to run; this ruling created the possibility that the elections would have to be postponed in order to reprint ballot papers. However, these candidates later withdrew their bids, so the elections went ahead on schedule on October 11.^[5]

Presidential candidates

Nathaniel Barnes — Liberian Destiny Party (LDP) Charles Brumskine — Liberty Party (LP) Sekou Conneh — Progressive Democratic Party (PRODEM) Samuel Raymond Divine — Independent David Farhat — Free Democratic Party (FDP) Armah Jallah — National Party of Liberia (NPL) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Unity Party (UP) George Kiadii — National Vision Party of Liberia (NATVIPOL) George Klay Kieh — New Deal Movement (NDM) Joseph Korto — Liberia Equal Rights Party (LERP) Robert Kpoto — Union of Liberian Democrats (ULD) Alhaji G.V. Kromah — All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP)

Roland Massaquoi — National Patriotic Party (NPP) John Morlu — United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Alfred Reeves — National Reformation Party (NRP) Varney Sherman — Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) Togba-Nah Tipoteh — Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) Margaret Tor-Thompson — Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia (FAPL) Winston Tubman — National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) William V.S. Tubman, Jr. — Reformed United Liberia Party (RULP) George Weah — Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Joseph Woah-Tee — Labor Party of Liberia (LPL)

Results

First round presidential map showing the winners of each county

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v t e

Presidential elections

Voting took place in two rounds 11 October and 8 November. Twenty-two people contested the presidential race in the first round. George Weah, former soccer star and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former World Bank employee and finance minister finished first and second, respectively and advanced to the second round run-off, which Johnson-Sirleaf won 59%-41%, according to the National Electoral Commission.

Weah claimed election fraud, stating elections officials were stuffing ballot boxes in Johnson-Sirleaf's favor. Most elections observers, including those from the United Nations, the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States, say that the election was clean and transparent. The Carter Center observed "minor irregularities" but no major problems. Johnson-Sirleaf reminded the press that Weah has 72 hours to bring evidence of wrongdoing to her campaign according to Liberian law, calling the accusations "lies" and stating that Weah's supporters "just don't want a woman to be President in Africa." [2]

On December 22, 2005, Weah withdrew his protests, and in January Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first democratically elected female Head of State in the history of the African Continent, and the first native female African Head of State since Empress Zauditu, who ruled Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930 and not including Queen Elizabeth II who reigned over many Commonwealth countries upon their independence and still reigns as Queen of the United Kingdom over the Atlantic African Islands and British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha .

e • d Summary of the 11 October and 8 November 2005 Liberian presidential election results

Candidate	Party	1st round		2nd round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf	Unity Party	192,326	19.8%	478,526	59.4%
George Weah	Congress for Democratic Change	275,265	28.3%	327,046	40.6%
Charles Brumskine	Liberty Party	135,093	13.9%
Winston Tubman	National Democratic Party of Liberia	89,623	9.2%
Varney Sherman	Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia	76,403	7.8%
Roland Massaquoi	National Patriotic Party	40,361	4.1%
Joseph Korto	Liberia Equal Rights Party	31,814	3.3%
Alhaji G.V. Kromah	All Liberia Coalition Party	27,141	2.8%
Togba-Nah Tipoteh	Alliance for Peace and Democracy	22,766	2.3%
William V.S. Tubman, Jr.	Reformed United Liberia Party	15,115	1.6%
John Morlu	United Democratic Alliance	12,068	1.2%
Nathaniel Barnes	Liberian Destiny Party	9,325	1.0%
Margaret Tor-Thompson	Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia	8,418	0.9%
Joseph Woah-Tee	Labor Party of Liberia	5,948	0.6%
Sekou Conneh	Progressive Democratic Party	5,499	0.6%
David Farhat	Free Democratic Party	4,497	0.5%
George Klay Kieh	New Deal Movement	4,476	0.5%
Armah Jallah	National Party of Liberia	3,837	0.4%
Robert Kpoto	Union of Liberian Democrats	3,825	0.4%
George Kiadii	National Vision Party of Liberia	3,646	0.4%
Samuel Raymond Divine	Independent	3,188	0.3%
Alfred Reeves	National Reformation Party	3,156	0.3%
Invalid or blank votes		38,883	3.8%	20,144	2.4%
Totals		1,012,673	100%	825,716	100%
Source: NEC

House elections

e • d Summary of the 11 October 2005 House of Representatives of Liberia election results

Political Party	Candidates	Number of Votes	% of Votes	Number of Seats	% of Seats
Congress for Democratic Change	58	157,753	15.97%	15	23.44%
Liberty Party	62	125,496	12.70%	9	14.06%
Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia	61	137,897	13.97%	8	12.50%
Unity Party	58	123,373	12.49%	8	12.50%
Alliance for Peace and Democracy	24	38,285	3.86%	5	7.81%
National Patriotic Party	50	78,751	7.97%	4	6.25%
New Deal Movement	21	35,721	3.62%	3	4.69%
All Liberia Coalition Party	13	19,471	1.97%	2	3.13%
National Democratic Party of Liberia	28	29,402	2.98%	1	1.56%
National Reformation Party	24	22,542	2.28%	1	1.56%
United Democratic Alliance	9	13,958	1.43%	1	1.56%
Free Democratic Party	12	19,326	1.96%	0	0
Progressive Democratic Party	12	11,997	1.21%	0	0
Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia	16	11,126	1.13%	0	0
Union of Liberian Democrats	9	10,089	1.02%	0	0
Labor Party of Liberia	9	7,811	0.79%	0	0
Liberia Equal Rights Party	3	7,256	0.73%	0	0
Reformed United Liberia Party	8	6,252	0.63%	0	0
Liberian Destiny Party	8	5,493	0.60%	0	0
National Vision Party of Liberia	2	3,443	0.35%	0	0
National Party of Liberia	1	1,532	0.16%	0	0
Independents	25	68,387	6.59%	7	10.94%
Invalid or blank votes	-	52,550	5.32%	-	-
Totals	513	987,911	100%	64	100%

Senate elections

As no Senate existed prior to the elections, each voter was eligible to cast two ballots for different candidates. The two candidates with the highest number of votes in each county were elected. The candidate with the highest share of votes became the senior senator for the county, elected to a nine-year term. The candidate with the second-highest share became the junior senator, elected to a six-year term. This method was chosen in order to reintroduce a staggered electoral system.

e • d Summary of the 11 October 2005 Senate of Liberia election results

Political Party	Candidates	Number of Votes	% of Votes	Number of Seats	% of Seats
Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia	29	232,636	13.51%	7	23.33%
Unity Party	27	222,705	12.93%	4	13.33%
Congress for Democratic Change	25	252,677	15.97%	3	10.00%
Liberty Party	29	213,002	12.38%	3	10.00%
National Patriotic Party	20	178,259	10.35%	3	10.00%
Alliance for Peace and Democracy	13	119,091	6.92%	3	10.00%
National Democratic Party of Liberia	16	60,668	3.52%	2	6.67%
All Liberia Coalition Party	3	28,385	1.65%	1	3.33%
National Reformation Party	4	12,037	0.70%	1	3.33%
Progressive Democratic Party	5	17,262	1.00%	0	0%
Reformed United Liberia Party	4	13,293	0.77%	0	0%
Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia	5	13,050	0.76%	0	0%
United Democratic Alliance	4	11,265	0.65%	0	0%
Union of Liberian Democrats	1	5,503	0.32%	0	0%
New Deal Movement	3	4,264	0.25%	0	0%
Liberian Destiny Party	3	3,431	0.20%	0	0%
Labor Party of Liberia	1	1,645	0.10%	0	0%
Independents	13	301,729	17.52%	3	10.00%
Invalid or blank votes	-	31,206	1.81%	-	-
Totals	205	1,722,108	100.00%	30	100%

References

1. 
   ^ "Liberia to hold elections October 11", Agence France-Presse (AFP), February 7, 2005.
   


2. 
   ^ "Liberia electoral reform bill signed into law", AFP, December 17, 2004.
   


3. 
   ^ "Football legend George Weah urged to stand for Liberian presidency", AFP, October 3, 2004.
   


4. 
   ^ Terence Sesay, "Presidential candidate Weah takes Monrovia by storm", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 24, 2004.
   


5. 
   ^ "Two Liberian candidates stand down to prevent delay of election", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 6, 2005.
   

• http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/13132018.htm


• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1866394,00.html

External links

Wikinews has related news: Liberians choose their president

General information

• National Elections Commission


• Liberia 2005: The Road to Democracy


• United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Electoral Division


• United Liberia - Latest News


• 
  Press Freedom Conditions in Liberia - IFEX
  


• All Africa, Liberia news

Candidates

• Nat Barnes for President


• Charles Brumskine Campaign Site


• Samuel Raymond Divine Campaign Site


• John Morlu for President


• Varney Sherman for President


• Dr. Togba-Nah Tipoteh for President


• Winston Tubman Campaign Site


• George Weah Campaign Site

Political parties

• Congress for Democratic Change


• Unity Party

Articles

• 
  I am woman, hear my roar Katharine Houreld on the participation of women in the 2005 Liberian election.

v t e Elections and referendums in Liberia
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