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Political Parties

In Liberia's early years, the Americo-Liberian settlers periodically encountered stiff and sometimes violent opposition from indigenous Africans, who were excluded from citizenship in the new Republic until 1904. At the same time, British and French colonial expansionists encroached upon Liberia, taking over much of its territory. Politically, the country was a one-party state ruled by the True Whig Party (TWP). The True Whig Party dominated all sectors of Liberia from independence in 1847 until April 12, 1980, when indigenous Liberian Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe (from the Krahn ethnic group) seized power in a coup d'etat. From 1989 to 1996 Liberia was the scene of one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars. Presidential and legislative general elections were held on July 19, 1997, and were scheduled to be held next in 2003. The ruling party was the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and there are 16 opposition parties, most of them weak and ineffectual. The NPP controlled a majority of the seats in the legislature, i.e., 21 of 26 in the Senate and 59 of 64 in the House.

Most of Liberia's political parties are formed for the sole purpose of joining political alliances as a means of getting "lucrative" positions from the party that wins, as was the case during the 2005 Presidential elections. These parties usually wane away after elections are held and members who are lucky to be included in the elected government usually abandon their parties or join the ruling party.

Personality-based political parties are rooted in Liberia’s history and political culture and transforming them into institutions with formal structures and close links with constituents is difficult and takes time. Nevertheless, strong political parties are a key component of a post-conflict transition as they can keep key constituencies and leaders engaged in the political process and increase the chances that a losing party will accept the election results. The challenges are considerable as there are many potential spoilers or those seeking personal power that will resist such change and continued engagement and support for this transformation is critical.

An assessment done in June 2004 characterized parties in Liberia as little more than ineffective, poorly disguised vehicles for advancing the extremely narrow interests of their leaders and found that “most of the parties lack many essential features such as a formal organizational structure, paid staff, issue platforms, plans to boost membership, and communication strategies.

National elections took place on October 11, 2005 to choose Liberia's President, Vice President, Senate, and House of Representatives. Thirty political parties were recognized for the election and 22 candidates ran for the Presidency. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party (UP) was elected President in a November 8 run-off election against former soccer star George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party. Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as Africa's first female head of state on January 16, 2006.

There were 11 political parties represented in Liberia's legislature. The CDC party had the largest single block of representation in the House of Representatives with 16 elected members out of a total of 65 members. The Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) had the largest single block of representation in the Senate with 7 elected members out of a total of 30 Senators.

The United States International Republican Institute [IRI] served as the primary implementer for the objective focusing on strengthened capacity of political parties. Its programmatic interventions originally targeted all of the regis-tered parties that were competing in the 2005 elections, but in the post-election phases limited the majority of its assistance to the six major parties with seats in the National Legislature that meet IRI’s criteria (which includes having conventions, internally democratic party constitutions and county structures). The other registered parties are still included in larger workshops and remain eligible to use the political party resource center at the IRI’s office. Most of IRI’s program fo-cused on the nuts and bolts of training, with mentoring and regular follow up. Its support to these parties included holding national and county level leadership workshops; facilitating public debates and town hall meetings which included a capacity building element for party officials; and work with the women’s and youth of the parties.

By 2008 considerable progress had been made towards developing a multiparty system in Liberia compared to its baseline and political history. Six major parties remained visible and vocal three years after the elections and were working through the system rather than having gone dormant or resorting to violence. Intensive party building activities started in 2007 for the six major parties with seats in the Legislature and national party officials. Election-related assistance included promoting a peaceful election (with development of a code-of-conduct and sparking the IPCC), public debates and party agent training.

The institutionalization of party structures in terms of constitutions, conventions, and clearly identified offices and officers is evident in Monrovia. Although the NEC enforcement of party registration requirements is a clear driver for some of this change, IRI programs contributed to this development. This is also in the process of being extended to the county level, pushed in part by the action plans developed with IRI assistance.

All of the major parties now have at least a work plan to develop funding sources. In addition to eventually making them less dependent on the standard bearer, it will change the way supporters see and relate to the parties. Instead of seeing the party and its standard bearer as a source of patronage, party supporters are now being asked to pay dues to support the party. Many party officials thought this would transform the relationship between the party and their constituents.

In March 2009 the National Elections Commission (NEC) revoked the licenses of ten political parties after it determined that they were in violation of Article 79 (c)(i) of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia which stipulates that in order for a party to function, it must maintain headquarters in Monrovia. NEC also said that the parties have failed to present their financial statements to it in accordance with Article 82(c) of the Constitution. The NEC filed a writ of dissolution of the affected parties at the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice in September 2008. The ten parties deregistered by the NEC are: Labor Party of Liberia, Reformed United Liberia Party, United Democratic Party, National Party of Liberia, United Democracy Alliance, Independent Democratic Party, People's Democratic Party of Liberia, Freedom Alliance Party of Liberia, Liberia Equal Rights Party and the All Liberia Coalition Party. These parties will not be allowed to take part in any future political process within the territorial confines of Liberia. Thirty political parties were registered during the 2005 elections. Twenty-two candidates vied for the Presidency after the formation of alliances and coalitions. Most of the deregistered parties are those whose leaders reside in the United States. They only returned to Liberia between 2004 and 2005 and since returned after their dismal performances during the 2005 elections.

President Sirleaf's Unity Party continued to gain strength to the point that it was arguably the strongest party in Liberia, despite growing public perception that the Unity Party was full of "big city" people who take advantage of poor rural farmers for their own gain. Party officials are well placed in government positions throughout the country and are building a strong machine. The party continues to win over adherents and the appointment of young party members to key government positions shows the party is ready to lead for another generation.

At least seven members of the House of Representatives (including three from former presidential candidate George Weah's Congress for Democratic Change) had joined President Sirleaf's Unity Party (UP) since the beginning of 2010. The UP also cemented its merger with the Liberia Action Party (LAP) and Liberia Unification Party (LUP) at a 5-7 February 2013 UP conference. LAP and LUP were components of the Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) in the 2005 election. COTOL's presidential candidate, the LAP's Varney Sherman, was previously one of President Sirleaf's most outspoken critics, but became an avid supporter.

Opposition parties remained fragmented and appeared far from forming a coalition capable of threatening the UP's dominant position ahead of the 2011 election. The largest party after the 2005 election, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), was fractured and there was no indication it would re-emerge any time soon. CDC presidential candidate George Weah's decision to reside abroad since his defeat in 2005 only made him weaker as a candidate. He can still find support among disaffected youth, who still see him as a soccer star and a defender of youth, but he is losing support even from the more talented members of the CDC.

The only other viable party was the Liberty Party. The LP continues to be a regional party, with strong backing from the Bassa ethnic group in Grand Bassa and River Cess Counties. LP party leader Charles Brumskine continues to have some appeal even beyond his party's base (including from evangelical churchgoers), and has been an outspoken critic of the Sirleaf administration. But he still does not have broad national appeal or political base, and like others, spends a lot of time "home" in the United States.