This Tuesday, December 8, some 2.5 million Liberian voters are called upon to approve or not eight amendments to the Constitution, including one reducing the duration of the presidential mandate from six to five years, and to choose half of their 30 senators.
Voting operations began around 8 a.m. (local and GMT) in Kendenja’s office in Monrovia, at the scheduled opening time across the country, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse noted. In another district of the capital, voters were already lining up an hour and a half before the opening, according to another correspondent. Offices must close at 6 p.m. The first results are expected before the end of the week.
The deadline serves as a double test for President George Weah, who three years ago raised immense hopes when he came to power in a country still marked by the civil war of 1989-2003 and the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016.
Since his election, the economic situation of the country, one of the poorest in the world, has worsened further, due in particular to the coronavirus crisis, and the popularity of the only African who brought home the Ballon d’Or s is largely eroded, especially among the young people who had brought him to power. Rumors have attributed to him in recent months the desire to take advantage of the change in Constitution which he calls for to go beyond the limit of two presidential terms, as his counterparts in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, neighboring countries of Liberia, Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara.
“The president is not thinking of a third term”
“He will be running for a third term simply because his first six years would have taken place under another Constitution. Voting yes in the referendum would be a mistake, ”said opposition senator Darius Dillon. By boasting of a “reset” of his presidential counter, the child of the slums of Monrovia could not only run for a second term (of five years) in 2024, but also once again in 2029, which would make possible a Weah presidency until 2034.
His entourage, however, affirms that the former star striker of PSG and AC Milan “does not think of a third term” while he has not even completed the first. “I sincerely believe that keeping someone in power for a long time is not the right thing to do,” “Mr. George” himself said at a campaign rally last week, calling on his supporters to say “yes” to the reduction to five years of the presidential mandate.
The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), an alliance of the four main opposition parties, believes that few voters understand the scope of the proposed changes and called for a boycott of the referendum. “We don’t even know what the consequences are of voting yes or no,” opposition coalition leader Mohammed Aly told AFP. These speculations are part of a “political game”, replies a deputy allied to the president, Acarus Gray.
A divided society
The proposal also aims to change the rules on nationality, an issue that continues to divide society in Liberia, the oldest republic in black Africa, founded in the 19th century.e century under the impetus of the United States for freed black slaves, whose descendants dominated political life for 170 years.
While dual nationality has been prohibited since 1973, the draft new Constitution provides that any child born to at least one Liberian parent would automatically be a “natural citizen” of the country and that he would have the right to hold another nationality.
These binationals would not have the right to access certain high office, including elective, but they would be allowed to access property in Liberia, which is not the case until now.
Many of the US-Liberian elite are also secret citizens of the United States. The “indigenous” population criticizes them for impoverishing the country by using the money they earn in Liberia to build properties in the United States.
Edward Gayflor, a 48-year-old Liberian who fled to the United States during the Civil War, where he acquired American citizenship, is delighted to be able to give the economy a boost. “It is time for Liberians to say yes to dual nationality so that we can contribute to the development of our homeland,” he told AFP.
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