| Parliament name |
Legislature |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
The Liberian Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
10 October 2017 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
As in the previous elections, no party won a majority in the 73-member House of Representatives (see note). The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), led by soccer legend and Senator George Weah (CDC), came first with 21 seats. The ruling Unity Party (UP) came second with 19 seats. Other parties took fewer than five seats each. During the election campaign, the major parties focused on job creation, anti-corruption measures and infrastructure projects.
No candidates won an outright majority in the first round of the presidential elections, held in parallel with the parliamentary polls. CDC leader Weah, with Ms. Jewel C. Howard-Taylor (wife of the former President Charles Taylor, serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes) as his running mate, came first. Run-off elections between Senator Weah (CDC) and Vice President Joseph Boakai (UP) were due to be held on 7 November. However, on 6 November, the Supreme Court postponed the run-off presidential elections at the request of the Liberty Party (LP) whose candidate, Mr. Charles Brumskine, finished third.
On 7 December, the Supreme Court ordered the election commission to proceed with organizing the run-off presidential elections, stating the irregularities occurred were not sufficient enough to annul the entire electoral process. The Court also ordered the election commission to clean the electoral roll before the run-offs. On 26 December, Mr. Weah won the run-off elections, to succeed President Johnson Sirleaf. His swearing in on 22 January 2018 marked the first democratic transfer of power in Liberia in over seven decades.
Note:
In October 2016, the House of Representatives passed the Equal Representation and Participation Bill, creating five seats for women, one for youth and one for people with disabilities. However, the Ministry of Justice had not incorporated the changes into a new consolidated election law before the 2017 elections took place.
|
Date of previous elections: 11 October 2011
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Expected date of next elections: 10 October 2023
Number of seats at stake: 73 (full renewal)
Number of candidates: 1,000 (835 men, 165 women)
Percentage of women candidates: 16.5%
Number of parties contesting the election: 25
Number of parties winning seats: 12
Alternation of power: Yes
Date of the first session of the new parliament: 15 January 2018*
*The second working Monday of January following the elections.
Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Bhofal Chambers (Congress for Democratic Change, CDC) |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 10 October 2017 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
2'183'629
1'641'922 (75.19%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% of votes |
|
|
| Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Unity Party (UP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Unification Party (PUP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberty Party (LP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| All Liberian Party (ALP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Victory for Change Party (VCP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberia Transformation Party (LTP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| United People's Party (UPP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberia National Union (LINU) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberian People's Party (LPP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total of seats
|
|
|
|
|
| Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) |
21
|
|
|
|
|
| Unity Party (UP) |
20
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
13
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Unification Party (PUP) |
5
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberty Party (LP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| All Liberian Party (ALP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| Victory for Change Party (VCP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberia Transformation Party (LTP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| United People's Party (UPP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberia National Union (LINU) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberian People's Party (LPP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
64
9
12.33%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
House of Representatives (04.12.2017, 19.09.2018)
Election Commission (17.09.2018)
http://www.necliberia.org/results2017
http://www.necliberia.org/pg_img/Final%20Candidates%20listing.pdf
http://judiciary.gov.lr/2017-supreme-court-of-liberia-decisions/
http://www.cdcliberia.org/ab/pages/exec.php
http://www.bbc.com
http://uk.reuters.com/
https://www.bloomberg.com
https://www.cartercenter.org
https://www.nytimes.com/
http://frontpageafricaonline.com/ |
