–Congratulates Weah but cites huge challenges
In her last New Year’s message as President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at the weekend praised her deputy, Joseph Boakai for conceding defeat, describing him as “a peaceful public servant”.
Their ruling Unity Party (UP) lost massively to George Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the December 26 presidential runoff election, amidst a serious rift in the UP, with Sirleaf being accused of betraying her party and supporting Weah in the 2017 political contest.
This is a claim she has repeatedly denied. But the strained relations between her and Boakai became more visible in the run up to the polls. The Vice President said on radio that he was “guilty by association” because some of those seen as enemies of President Sirleaf in the UP were his allies.
They include former Chairman of the ruling UP, Senator Varney Sherman and current Chairman Wilmot Paye, who before the October 10, 2017 first round of election issued a statement declaring a vote of no confidence in Sirleaf’s credibility claiming she was conniving with NEC to rig the elections in Weah’s favour.
At one point, some hardliners in the Boakai camp of the UP were even agitating for the suspension/expulsion of Sirleaf, who is Standard Bearer Emeritus from the ruling party.
In his address to the nation on Friday accepting defeat and congratulating Weah on his victory, Boakai made no mention of President Sirleaf but called for national reconciliation.
In her last New Year’s message, Africa’s first elected female President named reconciliation as one of the challenges that her 12-year-old government has failed to achieve.
Besides, she said her administration was also faced with the challenges of corruption and a stressful economy.
Unemployment is very high and inflation is rising with ordinary Liberians feeling the brunt of the current economic and financial pinch.
“Headline inflation reported at end-October 2017 was 11.9 percent, 2.0 percentage points higher than the 9.9 percent recorded during the same period in 2016,” a December 21, 2017 Central Bank of Liberia report said.
The Liberian economy is also persistently being bedeviled by capital flight, with FX leaving the country in recent times increasing drastically.
The growth in inflation was said to be mainly driven by the depreciation of the Liberian dollar and the increase in the prices of petroleum products on the market.
The current exchange rate has climbed to 128 LRD to 1USD. When she first took office in 2006, the exchange rate was down as low as between 50/60LRD to 1USD.
Meanwhile, President Sirleaf has congratulated President elect George Manneh Weah and Vice President Elect Jewel Howard-Taylor for their victory.
“Peaceful transition in January will be an accomplishment to secure Liberia’s place in the comity of nations,” the outgoing President said in her New Year’s message.
According to her, the peaceful nature of the election proves the level of maturity in Liberian democracy.
Sirleaf is expected to hand over power in January 2018 after completing her second and final six-year term of office, marking the first time in 73 years that one elected President will be turning over to another elected President.
Article 50 of the Liberian constitution says: “The Executive Power of the Republic shall be vested in the President who shall be Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The president shall be elected by universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for a term of six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections. No person shall serve as President for more than two terms.” Report by Frank Sainworla fsainworla@yahoo.com