Published January 11, 2012
By Joelle Burbank, Nate Haken, Erin Crandell, Julie Andrus
Publication CULRR1202
Report available in PDF and Flash formats

Incumbent president and recent Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was declared the winner of the runoff election held on November 8th, 2011. After asserting that the October 8th election was not as fair as the United Nations and other international bodies declared it to be, opposition leader Winston Tubman and his supporters boycotted the run-off election, resulting in a turnout that was only about 37% of the voting age population, and almost half of the turnout in the October 8th election.

This is the second election held in Liberia after years of civil war, and this is the first to be overseen by an independent Liberian election board. While international observers declared the election to be free and fair, there were multiple reports gathered during the June to November period of intimidation of political opponents, election irregularities and government corruption. In this atmosphere, the boycott further undermines the perceived legitimacy of the government in the eyes of the local population.

Liberia also faces many other issues with public services and demographic pressures, including high rates of violent crime and problems within the healthcare and education systems. These problems will continue to affect Liberia’s ability to progress as a democratic state and could cause tension between the people and the government.

This report, the fifth in a series of publications on Liberia, compiles incident reports submitted by Liberian civil society organizations participating in the UNLocK Liberia early warning network from June-November 2011. Organized by county, incidents are categorized by Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST) indicators and reflect the pressures currently weighing on Liberia, as viewed by participating civil society members. Concerns over availability of public services, violent crime, and state legitimacy top the list. The objective of this publication is to provide a snapshot of the conflict landscape within Liberia for use by relevant actors in preventing future conflict.

Download the Report in PDF Format