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INSIGHT

Liberian Elections

Aired November 8, 2005 - 23:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MICHEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Liberians vote in an extraordinary presidential election as the country emerges from more than a decade of civil war. The two candidates couldn't be more different. The young, charismatic, former football star, George Weah, and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist who could become Africa's first elected female head of state.
Hello and welcome, everyone, to INSIGHT. I'm Michael Holmes.

Well, the West African country of Liberia is in shambles after 14 years of conflict: unemployment, 80 percent, no electricity, no running water. Whoever wins today's presidential runoff has themselves an enormous job, restoring hope and opportunity to a generation that has known only war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): George Weah was confident as he cast his ballot in Liberia's presidential runoff. He won 28 percent of the vote in last months' first round and predicts he will win Tuesday's poll.

Weah says he'll be able to heal the wounds of Liberia's long-running civil war.

GEORGE WEAH, LIBERIAN PRES. CANDIDATE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) peace. We have a peace, bringing people together to sit on the table and see how (UNINTELLIGIBLE) forward in a peaceful way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which is how?

WEAH: How? Bring all the stakeholders together in a meeting and let them know that it's the time to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for peace, so we will start.

HOLMES: The 39-year-old is a political novice with no ties to the conflict. His life story reads like a novel. Born in a Monrovia slum, dropped out of high school and became an international football star.

His opponent, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is nicknamed the Iron Lady. She has the political and educational experience Weah lacks. Sirleaf is a former finance minister for Liberia and worked for the United Nations, a background helpful in trying to rebuild Liberia's shattered economy.

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, LIBERIAN PRES. CANDIDATE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I think we're up to the task, we're ready for this job.

HOLMES: Liberia's descent into chaos began in 1980, when Samuel Doe took power in a military coup. The country slid into civil war in 1989 when Charles Taylor began a rebellion to topple Doe. Doe was later executed by rebel forces.

Years of factional fighting left some 2000 Liberian's dead and many more displaced. As rival militias closed in on the capital, Monrovia, in 2003, Taylor was forced from power and into exile in Nigeria. An interim government has been running the country since, but has done little to rebuild Liberia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And there is much to rebuild. Both the campaign and the voting in Liberia have been peaceful.

David Carroll joins us now on the line from Monrovia. He's an election observer with the National Democratic Institute.

David, thanks for your time.

First of all, if you will paint us a picture of voting today, how did it go?

DAVID CARROLL, ELECTION OBSERVER: Well, based on the few dozen sites that I and colleagues visited, the situation was particularly calm today and orderly. We're impressed by the very calm demeanor of the Liberians who are voting at the polls throughout the morning and in the afternoon.

HOLMES: There is a history, of course, of violence in Liberia. The presence of several thousands U.N. troops will be of great assistance. We see some of them there. But is there a surprise that things have gone off this smoothly so far?

CARROLL: I would say in the second round, it's a bit surprising. There were short lines at many polling stations across the country, and people may have misinterpreted that to mean lower turnout than may actually turn out to be the case.

What we found was that the very simple ballot design this time -- in the first round, there was 22 candidates, and since this was a runoff with a very simple ballot with just two candidates, the voters were able to choose pretty quickly and, therefore, there were not long lines and people waiting for many hours, as we had seen in the first round in October. And I believe that has contributed to what was a very calm and peaceful day with only a few isolated exceptions to that as far as we can tell so far.

HOLMES: And one would imagine that this will resonate fairly well in the region as a whole, will it not?

CARROLL: Yes, this election is absolutely critical for the West African subregion and for the continent as a whole, because of the internal linkages among the societies of West Africa and some of the conflicts in the region.

In Liberia, as we know, this election comes at the end of a two-year transition process and is a critical opportunity for Liberia to try to set a new course and begin to grow democratic institutions again.

HOLMES: We'll be discussing the politics and the difficulties in Liberia later in the program, David, but I'm curious. As somebody who has been there for a little while -- and we talked about the privations that Liberians have to live with -- what's it like being there, in terms of things like electricity, water and the like?

CARROLL: Yes, it's extremely difficult circumstances, probably the worst I have seen it in many countries. It's really a credit to the Liberians that in the difficult circumstances they face, that they show such a strong commitment to come out and to express their commitment to a different future.

HOLMES: Is there -- when you're out today, too, I'm curious if you can tell us the mood of people. You said that things were very calm, of course, but was there a joy in the air? Many have talked of this being a very hopeful day.

CARROLL: I would say more a hopeful expectation that tomorrow will bring a much better day for Liberia, rather than a sense of joy. I think there's a sense of determination and commitment and hope that this will bring a new future for Liberia.

HOLMES: David, we'll leave it there. David Carroll, National Democratic Institute at the Carter Center, thanks so much for joining us on INSIGHT.

We take a break now, but when we come back, reconciliation in Liberia. Can horrific crimes be forgiven?

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we live with it, what kind of society is this? What kind of world is this? What are we coming to? Have we no justice, no justice?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Women and children were not only the victims of Liberia's civil war, they were soldiers as well. Some 15,000 children were forced to fight and some 20 percent of ex-fighters are women. Now they are being trained to become seamstresses and tailors.

Welcome back to INSIGHT.

Liberia's civil war ended two years ago. That's when Charles Taylor was driven from power and into exile. Some 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are currently deployed in the country, but tensions remain high.

That is due in part to the nature of Liberia's conflict. It was vicious, almost unimaginable, atrocities widespread.

Now victims and former fighters live in the same communities, but forgiveness doesn't come easy.

Feme Oke has this story from Monrovia, and we warn you, parts of her report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a living dead. I was living like I was dead. I'm not even happy. I used to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I want to kill myself. I want to commit suicide.

FEME OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rita Wiza (ph) still remembers clearly the morning a government soldier came knocking at her door. It was July 20, her daughter's birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My 10-year-old daughter was raped to death before my very eyes. He raped her until she died. The boy who came to rape me, he wasn't quite 21. He came to rape me, but because I was sick he took the clot of blood from between my legs, he put his hand and rubbed it on my left face. Raped my daughter to death.

OKE: Rita (ph) lives in Chakla City (ph) in Liberia in a community where almost every woman has an equally terrible story to tell from the days of the civil war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And after the rape you, they leave you with sickness. As I am talking and you would smell me, I would begin to smell.

OKE: The soldier who killed Rita's (ph) daughter lives close by, like many former combatants, living in the same community they terrorized. The soldier who raped and murdered 10-year-old Nanu (ph) set fire to Rita's house. Now her only memory of her daughter is her grave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're still around. They are around. We see them every day. We live with them. What kind of society is this? What kind of world is this? What are we coming to? Have we no justice, no justice?

OKE: A few miles away in a tough area of Monrovia known as PHP (ph), you don't have to look far to see former fighters. Jacob was five when he was kidnapped by rebel soldiers. By the time he was eight, he was fighting alongside grown men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to go into a place, a village, and attack. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) kill people, kill our enemy, and one day we take over the town where we used to live. We inject ourselves with certain injections. We take (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We don't feel nothing at all.

OKE (on camera): Did you feel when you were so young that it was strange to be fighting? Wicked to be fighting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know why you call it strange to be fighting, wicked to be fighting. Because I was very early when I engaged myself into this thing (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It was very early. I don't know nothing, just to fire a gun, that's all, nothing I don't know but to fire a gun. Fire a gun and kill people and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) break the area down, find the area's civilians, burn them, put them to work. That's it.

OKE: How do you go forward? Because the things you did, people find it hard to forgive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for me, the people I did bad to within the area I was, I can go back there and appeal to them, reconcile to them, and tell them that's the war. We didn't know what we were doing. We were under the influence of drugs. I can tell them, and I believe that they will accept me.

OKE: So how do you want the future to be for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be in my home with my children where I will be relaxed. Every morning I get up and go to work and I come back and I relax myself. Sunday I go on the beach and enjoy myself. I want to be - - I have never experienced enjoyment since I was born, this thing called enjoyment. I've never experienced it.

OKE (voice-over): Later this year Liberia will get its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but it's difficult to know who are the victims, the young man who was kidnapped as a boy and made to fight or the mother who witnessed her 10-year-old child being murdered. Many are calling for reconciliation, but many are still weeping from their wounds, still too deep to heal.

Feme Oke, CNN, Monrovia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Powerful report, indeed.

Just ahead, the importance of Liberia's election for the stability of West Africa as a whole.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES TAYLOR, FMR. LIBERIAN LEADER: I leave you with these parting words: God willing, I will be back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Some Liberians are thankful that Charles Taylor did not make good on that promise, not yet, anyway. The former Liberian leader is still in exile in Nigeria. He's being charged with war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone but Nigeria's president says he will not turn Taylor over to the tribunal.

Welcome back to INSIGHT.

Taylor supported Sierra Leone's rebels during that country's own brutal civil war. Investigators say he armed the rebels in exchange for diamonds. Taylor is also accused of plotting a clue in Guinea and involvement in Ivory Coast's civil war.

West African countries have seen many civil wars and the United Nations warns that the region's stability hinges on a stable Liberia.

Joining us now to talk more about this is Nathan Van Dusen, the West African program manager for the organization IFES, which helps countries organize democratic elections. He observed last month's voting in Liberia.

When we talk about Liberia, we're talking about 150 years, really, of chronic bad governance, of pillaging, of civil war. How tough is the job of whomever wins this election?

NATHAN VAN DUSEN, IFES: Well, it's tremendously difficult, and one of the points that I would underscore for your viewers is that the elections are only one milepost in a very long road towards peace and reconciliation in Liberia, and it's critical that all of the political players that were involved in the elections in October, that were involved in the elections today, participate in that peace and reconciliation and the reconstruction of the political process in Liberia, if it's going to be successful.

HOLMES: And how do we make it successful? How do Liberians make it successful? What's going to be the difference between the campaign rhetoric and genuine reform?

VAN DUSEN: It's critical that Liberians commit themselves to essentially throwing down the guns and saying that they're going to enter into a political process in which all Liberians participate.

One of the problems during the Taylor years was that there was no genuine political dialogue. There was no commitment by the various different political movements, the different political stakeholders, to participate in the dialogue about where the country should go. And if that happens in the post-election period in Liberia, I think that the chances are good for peace and reconciliation in the long-term.

HOLMES: What about the importance for the need for the West to stay engaged? I'm talking about the United Nations, European Union, the United States, of course, the World Bank.

VAN DUSEN: Yes, absolutely. It's critical. Liberians can't do this alone, and it's worth pointing out that there would not have been peace in Liberia in the past two years had it not been for the U.N. presence, for the presence of all of the international donors that have participated in the transition process and participated in the electoral process.

And, as I said, it's -- this is only one milepost in a very long road towards peace and reconciliation. The international community has to remain engaged.

HOLMES: Let's talk about the candidates for a moment, their motives and abilities. Do you see these as two viable candidates?

VAN DUSEN: Well, to be honest, it's not really my opinion that matters. It's the opinion of the Liberian public. And if the Liberian public and the other players that essentially lost the elections on October 11 view whoever emerges as credible, view whoever emerges as someone that they can support as their political leader, then I think that bodes well for the future.

HOLMES: You know, one of the problems with Johnson-Sirleaf is, of course, her involvement in the previous Liberian government. Is that going to hurt her electorally? She's bringing some baggage to the table.

VAN DUSEN: I think indeed it is a liability and her association with Taylor, as you may know, one of Taylor's wives, Jewel Taylor (ph), came forth actually to support Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for this second round of elections in Liberia, and there are some Liberians who may view that as sort of a chink in her armor.

But she, of course, has a lot of other qualities to bring to the table, her experience with the world bank, her Harvard education, and it's ultimately up to the Liberians to decide whether her association with Taylor and her past involvement with government affairs in Liberia disqualifies her as a candidate.

HOLMES: True. Ivy league education, World Bank, United Nations, many years at the United Nations. That's on her plus side. Mr. Weah, her opponent, however, he's, what, a football star.

VAN DUSEN: Sure, sure.

HOLMES: So he's the populist candidate, if you like, but little or no government experience.

VAN DUSEN: I think populist indeed. In fact, all politics in Liberia I would describe as populist. The candidates very much run on personalities and associations and there is very little depth to their platforms.

But Mr. Weah also garners the support of the business community and others in Liberia who believe that he represents the sort of new dawn of Liberia without corruption and that believe that because he's independently wealthy, he's less likely to steal from the Liberian people when he actually takes that post.

HOLMES: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as it were.

Talk to me a little bit about the regional importance of Liberia when it comes to being such an important piece of the puzzle that is West Africa.

VAN DUSEN: Well, it's a critical piece of that puzzle, and it has been critical for quite some now. Of course, Taylor was involved in politics throughout the region. There is worry that he could be involved in politics in the region in the future and that he has been while he's been in detention in Nigeria.

And the political and ethnic affiliations that sort of constitute the political spectrum in Liberia, it's important to understand, span the borders with other countries in the region, with Guinea, with Cote d'Ivoire, with Sierra Leone.

So what happens in Liberia, folks across those borders feel like they have a stake in that process. It's not something that they feel doesn't affect them in some way.

HOLMES: All right. We literally have about 45 seconds left, but I think it's important for people to understand, Liberia is a poor country with no running water, no electricity, but it should be wealthy, shouldn't it?

VAN DUSEN: It should be. It has tremendous resources in terms of timber, diamonds, of course. There's been speculation that there is oil off the stores that is potentially recoverable. I understand that exploration is underway.

But it's really the human resources that are needed to capitalize on that resource wealth, mineral resource wealth, that's been lacking. And of course, 14 years of civil war with no health or education systems functioning in the country doesn't help the situation.

HOLMES: Indeed. Want to thank you for your thoughts, Nathan Van Dusen, of IFES, thanks.

VAN DUSEN: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: That is INSIGHT for this day. I'm Michael Holmes. Stay tuned, the news continues.

END

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