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How To Un-Seat A Sitting Liberian President
A Guide To The 2011 Liberian General And Presidential Elections

By Patrick Nimely-Sie Tuon

Editor And Publisher

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Have you ever heard people telling you that there’s no body qualified to succeed a setting Liberian president? Better yet, have you ever heard people saying the only way to defeat a sitting Liberian president is for the opposition to unite and support one candidate? Any time you hear of these, just remember it is a back door concession on the part of the supporters of a sitting Liberian president conceding that their dear leader has failed or is failing, but trying to hide behind these two excuses to justify their continuing support for a failing and corrupt government. These are tactics used, or being used, to distract the people from focusing on the continuing excesses of the government. By planning these doubts in the minds of the people, the leaders are relieved of any much needed pressure to put their house in order, thereby making them and their supporters to feel invincible.

While these two excuses are the most profound, there are others that are used as defenses. For example at the early start of each Liberian government. When a new Liberian leader comes to power, regardless by what means, we are told by their supporters to give the leader chance when the people begin to demand for some improvement in their lives. We are told it is too soon to question the effectiveness of the new leader and their policies must be patient and give the policies of the government time to take roots. While the people are kept in this patient mode, then it happens, the chorus of corruption begin to come up loud and clear, government officials, mainly those closed to the president, are being accused of pocketing public funds for personal use. Rather then facing up to the embarrassment and take corrective steps, we are told or asked who there to succeed that leader, and despite how corrupt the government is there is no way to defeat this leader except all members of the opposition unite behind one candidate.

What is so funny in these kinds of discussions is why would supporters of a sitting president would want to advise members of the opposition as to how to defeat such leader. Do you think these people really want the opposition to win? The answer is no. These so-called supporters of these Liberian leaders know that it will be very hard, if not impossible, for all members of the opposition to unite behind one candidate. In fact where is it written that defeating a setting president requires a complete unity among the opposition leaders? This so-called advice is so cleverly used that it becomes a cover-up to declare such setting leader the victor in an election and ignore any form of cheating that may’ve occurred during the electoral process. This is the scenario that was being put in place during the misrule of the disgraced Charles Taylor presidency as we were moving towards the 2003 elections before Taylor was kicked out, and it is surely coming into play as we leap towards the 2011 Liberian general and presidential elections.

Liberia has yet to have any president who deserves re-election. In our recent history, all it takes is 15 months after a new leader comes to power to expose how corrupt their government is, and how lawless such government will be. As the news of corruption dominate public discussions and paranoid begins to find its way within the higher level of the government, the art of legal governance disappeared and replaced with a patronage form of governing making it to appear that the president of Liberia owns every penny in the national treasury, and as such, has the right to dish out few thousands of dollars to people to buy their loyalty. So rather than being a leader for all, the president is now a patron to a very few who are willing to tolerate the iniquities in the government. Instead of deploying a national development policy, development projects are carefully selected and used either as a reward to a county whose leaders are in full support of the president or exploit a crisis in a certain area to buy the loyalty of the people affected.

So as we about to enter what could be a vigorous political campaign that will determine whether Liberia will be a stable democracy or set on the path to more violence, Liberians should not be distracted by those naysayers or doomsday predictors that the only way currently Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will be defeated is for all opposition to unite. This notion must be rejected and strongly dismissed. What it will take to defeat Madam Sirleaf is a candidate that is capable of casting himself or herself as a clear alternative to what we now have. But if you have candidates that speak like Ellen, acts like Ellen, refuse to accept the TRC report like Ellen is doing, the Liberian people will rather stick with the devil that they know, rather then taking a risk with another Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf look at like.

The place to start for any candidate to cast herself or himself as a clear alternative to Ellen is the embracing of the TRC report as part of his or her political platform. The TRC report is a powerful political platform that if effectively used could ride anyone to the Executive Mansion with ease. Any candidate who emerges as a strong advocate for the implementation of the TRC report will need no unity among opposition parties to win. Because the TRC report has within it all the aspirations of the people. This report contains what is wrong or been wrong with the Liberian society. So it will be foolish, cowardice and contradictive for any candidate to reject the report while at the same time claiming they have ideas to develop Liberia and improve the living standard of the Liberian people. Embracing and promise to implement the TRC report is the line of demarcation that will separate any opposition party from the ruling Unity Party or separate an opposition candidate from Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.