BY : Dr. Gamal El-Sayed

Despite the civil war that has almost destroyed infrastructure in Liberia and led to the murdering of many civilians there, situations in Liberia begin to improve gradually.

Established in 1820 as a home for the free slaves coming from the United States, Liberia gained independence in 1847. The free slaves made a constitution that looked similar to that of the US. Yet, the Afro-Americans almost seized power and wealth depriving the natives of everything.

President William Tolbert was one of the settlers who assumed power for a long time till Samuel Du, one of the Liberian military assassinated him in 1980. Owing to the racial policies adopted by Du, civil war began during which the troops of Charles Taylor killed Du thus Liberia became under Taylor's control. In 1991, however, a group of Liberian refugees established the United Liberation Movement for Democracy and launched many attacks against Taylor's troops. On July 25, 1993, the warring parties signed cease-fire pact. Yet, in April 1996, cease-fire pact collapsed due to the attacks launched against Taylor's troops by an armed group called the Liberian Council of Peace. Violence and chaos, therefore, returned to Liberia. Under the auspices of the neighboring Ghana, Peace Agreement was signed on August 18, 2003 by virtue of which a transitional government was established to run the country till holding presidential and parliamentary elections. On October 14, 2003 Gyude Bryant was sworn in as a transitional president of the country. Bryant faced many problems such as restoring security all over Liberia and presenting the former president Charles Taylor to war crime court in the neighboring Sierra Leone. The restoration of the constitutional legitimacy to Liberia entails many requirements as follows:

• The search for the appropriate constitution.
• The national keenness on restoring constitutional legitimacy.
• The regional and international support.
• Providing the best climates and credibility to hold free and fair elections.

Elections in Liberia The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on all Liberians, regardless of their affiliations, to cast ballots to help pave the way before restoring peace in the war-torn country. In October 2005, presidential elections took place in the country under the supervision of 400 international monitors where 22 candidates including the famous football player George Waya ran for the post. The candidate of the Unity Party Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won elections thus she becomes the first woman to assume power in Liberia.

The platform of Mrs. Johnson aims at realizing national unity, boosting the political future of the country, combating corruption and achieving economic reform. In addition, Ellen's program targets at improving the living standards of the Liberians and providing basic commodities, job vacancies and boosting regional and international cooperation.