The answer to this question is in the positive. After a civil war, which cost the country over 200,000 lives, Liberia is surviving again as a beacon of democracy in a continent where democracy is receding as coups d’état increase.
First and most, the country has a two term limit for its president. It also has a 50 plus majority principle before a presidential candidate can be declared elected. This principle was applied to the full in its October elections. The incumbent, President Weah and his closest rival Bokai both had less than 50 percent of the votes. Since none of them had 50 percent plus of the votes, they had to go for a second round. The National Electoral Commission of Liberia declared Bokai the winner.
In a dramatic display of magnanimity President Weah accepted the results and made a phone call to congratulate president elect Bokai while calling for national reconciliation after serving only one term. This is a show case in democracy, especially if one compares it with the 2020 election between President Biden and outgoing president Trump. Up to today outgoing president Trump’s associates are questioning the verdict of the 2020 elections in the USA where a strange coup d’état was almost in the making if the vice president who had certified the result on 6th January 2021 were to succumb to the pressure of his party and the associates of the party of the outgoing president.
This Liberian example should be commended and emulated. He deserves the Mo Ibrahim Award.
