http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=35824 Record Details Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=35824 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=35824 Liberia’s October 2011 general and presidential elections, the second since civil war ended in 2003, are an opportunity to consolidate its fragile peace and nascent democracy. Peaceful, free and fair elections depend on how well the National Elections Commission -NEC- handles the challenges of the 23 August referendum on constitutional amendments and opposition perceptions of bias toward the president’s Unity Party. The NEC, the government, political parties, presidential candidates, civil society, media and international partners each have roles to play to strengthen trust in the electoral process. They should fight the temptation to treat the elections as not crucial for sustaining the progress made since the civil war. But even after good elections five factors will be critical to lasting peace: a more convincing fight against corruption; deeper commitment to transforming Liberia with a new breed of reform-minded political players; sustained international engagement in supporting this more ambitious transformation; economic development; and regional stability, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire. <br> <br> The elections are being contested by many of the same political actors from the troubled past. Incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf seems to have an edge in the face of a divided opposition that features lawyer Charles Brumskine, former UN diplomat and legal expert Winston Tubman, businessman and diplomat Dew Mayson and former warlord-turned-senator Prince Johnson. The former international football great, George Weah, who led the first round in the October 2005 presidential elections but lost the run-off, is Tubman’s vice presidential running mate. The political scene has been refigured by hastily concluded mergers and alliances between the numerous parties vying for a portion of power. They will have to campaign first for or against constitutional amendments at stake in the referendum. The most contentious of these would reactivate a residency requirement for public office candidates while reducing it from ten years to five. If adopted, the courts would probably have to interpret its possible effect on the fast approaching election. International Crisis Group