LIBERIA

LIBERIA: Assessment by President Georges Weah

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4 years .

24/01/2021 à 10:43

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Former international football player and current president of Liberia, Georges Weah, has completed his three years as head of the country since his election on 18 January 2018. Its track record is mixed, between broken promises and a growing disappointment of the people, all in a context of health crisis that has brought down the economy of many countries. He still has three more years left before his first term, and the people expect a great deal from him.

The election of Georges Weah as head of Liberia in January 2018 had created a lot of hope, especially among young people. With his ambitious programme for the poor and youth, Georges Weah was elected with 61.5% of the vote. Three years later, it is the status quo, the situation remains very difficult for the majority of Liberians.

Added to this is the impact of the current Covid-19 health crisis, even though the country recorded only 1912 cases with 84 deaths. The lockdown decreed by President Georges Weah during the month of April 2020 has aggravated food security and slowed the tourism contribution that represents a considerable weight in the economic development of the country. GDP contracted by 3% in 2020 in this West African country of less than five million inhabitants, marked by the civil war of 1989-2003 and the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016.

Of the 87 promises made by President Georges Weah during his campaign, only five have been implemented after three years, according to Naymote, an NGO responsible for evaluating the achievements of the Liberian President. These five remarkable achievements of the Head of State include the free of charge of the public university, the construction of roads and the renovation work of some slums. But these ambitious projects, as ambitious as they are, are tarnished by suspicions of corruption and fraud.

Politically, the final results of the December 8, 2020 election have still not been announced. Senatorial elections coupled with a referendum to amend the Constitution but the people are still not built. According to the partial results, the ruling party lost senators and the “no” in the referendum is majority. The referendum concerned the reduction of the presidential mandate, but the opponents campaigned until the “no” prevailed. They feared that this amendment to the Constitution would open the door to a possible third term for President Georges Weah.

LIBERIA

LIBERIA – Presidential term cut rejected by Liberians

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4 years .

09/04/2021 à 10:45

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Amadou Thiam

The Lebanese people rejected the eight proposals made by the President of the Republic, Georges Weah. The results of the referendum of 8 December 2020 were published by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on 1 April 2021, four months later due to appeals filed by the opposition. The eight amendments introduced by the Head of State received more than 50% yes, which is far from the two-thirds threshold provided for in the Liberian Constitution. Among these reforms proposed by Georges Weah, are mainly the reduction of the length of the presidential term from six to five years and that of senators from nine to seven years.

The Liberian people were called to the polls on 8 December 2020 to vote on the eight constitutional amendments presented by the Head of State, Georges Weah. 2.5 million citizens voted in this referendum. The Liberians rejected the President’s reforms, which focused on reducing the presidential term from six to five years and that of senators from nine to seven years, but also on allowing dual nationality. Georges Weah believes that he wants to put an end to the long term mandate of elected officials, but despite this positive intention, the Liberian people did not approve these changes in the 1986 Constitution. Indeed, many Liberian citizens think that the constitutional reforms desired by the President of the Republic are just a pretext to make their way to a third mandate as is the case with the Guinean heads of state Alpha Condé and Ivorian Alassane Ouattara.

The Liberians are also opposed to dual nationality because, they say, the “American-Liberian” elite, many of whose members are secretly citizens of the United States, seizes the country’s wealth to buy subsequently properties in the United States.

Georges Weah has led Liberia since 2018. It has failed to turn the economy of this West African country, which was marked by the civil war of 1989-2003 and the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2016. With the coronavirus pandemic, Liberia is going through a difficult time. That is why the Liberian people have doubts about the true intentions of the president, the only football player on the continent, regarding the proposed constitutional reforms.

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