Liberia awaits Africa's first female president
By Lauren Gelfand in Monrovia
Published: 11 November 2005
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf claimed victory yesterday in Liberia's presidential
run-off. After decades in opposition, two stints in jail and a whirlwind
two weeks on board a rented helicopter, she now looks certain to become
Africa's first elected female president.
The National Elections Commission said that with more than 90 per cent of
votes counted, Ms Johnson-Sirleaf had 59.1 per cent of the ballot. Her
rival, the millionaire football star George Weah, had 40.9 per cent from
Tuesday's election in the west African state.
"I think the trend is now irreversible," said 67-year-old Ms
Johnson-Sirleaf, known in Liberia as the Iron Lady. "Just my own
performance ... is going to raise the participation of women not just in
Liberia but also in Africa."
The presidential run-off was given a generally clean bill of health by
international observers who monitored the ballot in Africa's oldest
independent republic, founded by freed American slaves in 1847. The US
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said: "On the whole it was an
orderly and efficient process."
The capital, Monrovia, was calm yesterday, but UN peacekeepers had used
batons on Wednesday night to break up a crowd of angry Weah supporters
complaining of fraud.
The count is expected to be completed within the next few days.
Ms Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated banker and economist, polled just
19.8 per cent in the first-round election on 11 October and trailed Mr
Weah by 10 points going into the second-round vote. But after a lavishly
funded and aggressive burst of late campaigning, she looked yesterday to
have prevailed in her quest for the office that eluded her in 1997, when
the warlord Charles Taylor romped to victory after a seven-year rebellion.
Much of her late surge may have been due to a media blitz that hammered
away at Mr Weah's lack of formal education and his political inexperience,
amid a whispering campaign which exploited the ethnic tensions that simmer
below the fragile peace after two civil wars. Ms Johnson-Sirleaf has
compiled a resumé of domestic and international experience that would be
some comfort to Liberia's development partners eager to help it reassume
its position among Africa's most prosperous nations. She served in, and
then opposed, the successive administrations of presidents William Tolbert
and William Tubman before turning down a senate seat in the 1985
government of Samuel Doe, a move that saw her jailed for the first time on
charges of treason. She was jailed again for her alleged involvement in a
failed coup later that year by Thomas Quiwonkpa, prompting her to leave
the country before returning to stand against Taylor in 1997.
Stints at Citibank, the World Bank and within the United Nations system
have also given the widowed grandmother insight into how to unite and
rebuild a country without running water or electricity, a good road
network or enough jobs or seats in classrooms for its 3 million people.
"When I look back on my life story, I see a life filled with activism, and
if I have courted controversy, it is only because I have tried to be
consistent in my political beliefs," she said in a pre-election interview.
"I think I have consistently taken the position that best serves the
national interest, so for me it was not about switching sides but staying
true to what I thought was best for the Liberian people."
Political pioneers
* Indira Gandhi was India's first female prime minister, serving twice,
from 1966 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984. She was assassinated by her own
guards.
* Julia Tymoshenko was Ukraine's first female prime minister, coming to
power in the orange revolution this year. Her government was fired amid
allegations of corruption.
* Sirimavo Bandaranaike, born in 1916, was the first elected female
leader. After the assassination of her husband, the amiable housewife
became prime minister of Sri Lanka four times.
* Mary Robinson, born in 1944, was the first female president of Ireland,
from 1990 to 1997. As a senator she had campaigned for contraception.
* Isabel Peron, born in 1931, a former nightclub dancer, was Argentina's
first female president, after the death of her husband, Juan Peron, in
1974.
* Golda Meir was premier of Israel from 1969 to 1974. Born in Kiev in
1898, she was Israel's first ambassador to Moscow and a cabinet minister
from 1949 to 1965.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf claimed victory yesterday in Liberia's presidential
run-off. After decades in opposition, two stints in jail and a whirlwind
two weeks on board a rented helicopter, she now looks certain to become
Africa's first elected female president.
The National Elections Commission said that with more than 90 per cent of
votes counted, Ms Johnson-Sirleaf had 59.1 per cent of the ballot. Her
rival, the millionaire football star George Weah, had 40.9 per cent from
Tuesday's election in the west African state.
"I think the trend is now irreversible," said 67-year-old Ms
Johnson-Sirleaf, known in Liberia as the Iron Lady. "Just my own
performance ... is going to raise the participation of women not just in
Liberia but also in Africa."
The presidential run-off was given a generally clean bill of health by
international observers who monitored the ballot in Africa's oldest
independent republic, founded by freed American slaves in 1847. The US
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said: "On the whole it was an
orderly and efficient process."
The capital, Monrovia, was calm yesterday, but UN peacekeepers had used
batons on Wednesday night to break up a crowd of angry Weah supporters
complaining of fraud.
The count is expected to be completed within the next few days.
Ms Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated banker and economist, polled just
19.8 per cent in the first-round election on 11 October and trailed Mr
Weah by 10 points going into the second-round vote. But after a lavishly
funded and aggressive burst of late campaigning, she looked yesterday to
have prevailed in her quest for the office that eluded her in 1997, when
the warlord Charles Taylor romped to victory after a seven-year rebellion.
Much of her late surge may have been due to a media blitz that hammered
away at Mr Weah's lack of formal education and his political inexperience,
amid a whispering campaign which exploited the ethnic tensions that simmer
below the fragile peace after two civil wars. Ms Johnson-Sirleaf has
compiled a resumé of domestic and international experience that would be
some comfort to Liberia's development partners eager to help it reassume
its position among Africa's most prosperous nations. She served in, and
then opposed, the successive administrations of presidents William Tolbert
and William Tubman before turning down a senate seat in the 1985
government of Samuel Doe, a move that saw her jailed for the first time on
charges of treason. She was jailed again for her alleged involvement in a
failed coup later that year by Thomas Quiwonkpa, prompting her to leave
the country before returning to stand against Taylor in 1997.
Stints at Citibank, the World Bank and within the United Nations system
have also given the widowed grandmother insight into how to unite and
rebuild a country without running water or electricity, a good road
network or enough jobs or seats in classrooms for its 3 million people.
"When I look back on my life story, I see a life filled with activism, and
if I have courted controversy, it is only because I have tried to be
consistent in my political beliefs," she said in a pre-election interview.
"I think I have consistently taken the position that best serves the
national interest, so for me it was not about switching sides but staying
true to what I thought was best for the Liberian people."
Political pioneers
* Indira Gandhi was India's first female prime minister, serving twice,
from 1966 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984. She was assassinated by her own
guards.
* Julia Tymoshenko was Ukraine's first female prime minister, coming to
power in the orange revolution this year. Her government was fired amid
allegations of corruption.
* Sirimavo Bandaranaike, born in 1916, was the first elected female
leader. After the assassination of her husband, the amiable housewife
became prime minister of Sri Lanka four times.
* Mary Robinson, born in 1944, was the first female president of Ireland,
from 1990 to 1997. As a senator she had campaigned for contraception.
* Isabel Peron, born in 1931, a former nightclub dancer, was Argentina's
first female president, after the death of her husband, Juan Peron, in
1974.
* Golda Meir was premier of Israel from 1969 to 1974. Born in Kiev in
1898, she was Israel's first ambassador to Moscow and a cabinet minister
from 1949 to 1965.
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