'Iron Lady' claims victory in Liberia's runoff election

Toronto Globe & Mail

Friday, November 11, 2005; A3

Article written by Shawn McCarthy

 

After their male leaders led the country through 14 years of brutal civil war, Liberians have turned their backs on tradition and appear to have elected the first woman president on the African continent -- a Harvard-educated technocrat who has worked for the United Nations, the World Bank and New York-based Citibank.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who was a member of the last elected government in the West African nation in the 1970s, yesterday claimed victory over her runoff challenger, millionaire international soccer star George Weah.

The high-school dropout from the slums of Monrovia ran a populist campaign, accusing Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf of being a member of the country's foreign-backed, American-Liberian establishment. For more than 150 years, the indigenous population of the region has been dominated by former U.S. slaves who relocated there in the 19th century and have formed the educated elite.

Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf campaigned explicitly on her gender, promising to bring healing to a land that has been impoverished by war and corruption brought on by male leaders.

"All the men have failed Liberia; let's try a woman this time," read the T-shirt worn by many of her supporters.

With 91 per cent of the votes counted, Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf had received 59 per cent, and Mr. Weah, 41 per cent, the country's National Elections Commission said yesterday. But Mr. Weah is challenging the vote count with claims that Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf's Unity Party stuffed ballot boxes. One U.S. observer said there is "credible evidence" to back that charge.

Her apparent victory -- if it survives the challenge -- represents a remarkable breakthrough for Africa, where women have traditionally been denied leadership roles.

"I think it is a great move for Africa," said U.S. Congressman Donald Payne, a leader of the black congressional caucus who returned recently from monitoring the Oct. 11 first round of the election.

"I think any country that is open enough to elect a woman shows that people are really looking for the person that will best serve the country."

Despite Mr. Weah's complaints, Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf yesterday declared herself the winner. "It's clear that the Liberian people have expressed confidence in me," Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf told The Associated Press. "They have elected me to lead the team that will bring reform to the country and that will deliver development."

However, some Liberia watchers worry that Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf, nicknamed The Iron Lady by her supporters, is too closely identified with the country's powerful elites to represent real reform and renewal.

Peter Pham, a professor at Madison University in Virginia who has studied and written on Liberian politics, said Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf rose to prominence through the same political milieu that produced dictatorial leaders such as Charles Taylor, who is in exile and indicted for war crimes.

"She campaigned on her gender but she's the same species of politician that's been the plague of Liberia for most of its history," said Mr. Pham, who just returned from Liberia, where he served as an election monitor.

While she has broken through a powerful barrier as the continent's first elected woman president, Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, has been preparing for the job her entire adult life. After being educated in a private school run by the Methodist Church, she moved to the United States and waited tables while earning an accounting degree at Madison School of Business at the University of Wisconsin. She later earned her master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.

She served as finance minister in a civilian government in the 1970s, but, after a coup by master sergeant Samuel Doe, she was arrested and jailed. Exiled from the country, she worked for the United Nations Development Fund in Nigeria, for the World Bank and as an African-based vice-president for New York-based Citibank.

She briefly supported Charles Taylor's invasion and coup against Mr. Doe, and was appointed head of the Liberian Development Bank by him. But she ran against him in the 1997 election, which Mr. Taylor won with 70 per cent of the vote. He later accused her of treason and she once again fled the country, returning only in 2003, after he was deposed.