| Parliament name |
Legislature |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
The Liberian Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
House of Representatives
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
11 October 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all seats in the Senate. Elections were previously held in July 1997. |
On 11 October 2005
the first presidential and parliamentary elections after the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) were held for the 64-member House of Representatives and the 30-member Senate.
The CPA was concluded between the Government of Liberia and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD)
the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL)
and other political parties on 18 April 2003. During three years of fighting to oust the then president
Charles Taylor
an estimated 1.4 million Liberians fled the country. The CPA established a National Transitional Government of Liberia and a unicameral 76-member National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA)
replacing the previous bicameral parliament. All members of the NTLA were appointed in October 2003. The CPA also stipulated that the presidential and parliamentary elections initially scheduled for October 2003 would be postponed until no later than October 2005.
In the 2005 elections
there were 22 candidates vying for the presidency
512 for the House of Representatives
and 206 for the Senate. In a total of 109 women were in the race.
The main political parties were led by candidates for the presidency
including Mr. George Weah
a former soccer star of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and his main rival
a former finance minister Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of the Unity Party (UP). Other parties included the National Patriotic Party (NPP)
which had been the ruling party under former president Taylor
the Liberty Party (LP) and the Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL).
Most of the campaigning focused on the theme of reconciliation. Mr. Weah used the slogan "Did he kill your ma? No! Did he kill your pa? No! Vote for George Weah!"
while Ms. Sirleaf pledged "to rid Liberia of its heritage of failed warlords".
A United Nations peacekeeping force of some 15
000 members provided technical and logistical support to the polls as well as ensured security along with Liberia's police and armed forces.
Of the 1.3 million registered voters 74.9 per cent turned out at the polls. Liberians living abroad were not able to vote.
A total of 369 observers from 28 international organizations
including the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU)
monitored the elections. In its preliminary report released on 13 October
the EU noted that the elections had been peaceful and were an important step forward in the process of returning Liberia to a normal functioning state. While recognizing the efforts of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to encourage women to register and vote in the election
the EU pointed out that only 14 per cent of the candidates were women
and only one political party achieved the 30 per cent benchmark set by the NEC.
Final results for the House of Representatives showed no clear winner. Mr. Weah's CDC was the best placed
securing 15 of 64 seats. The LP came in second with nine seats
followed by the UP and the COTOL
which won eight seats each. The Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) received five seats
the National Patriotic Party (NPP)
four seats
the New Deal Movement (NDM)
three seats
and the All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP)
two seats. The National Reformation Party (NRP)
the National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL)
and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) won one seat each. The remaining seven seats went to independent candidates.
In the Senatorial elections
the COTOL was the best placed
securing seven of 30 seats. Mr. Cletus S. Wotorson
a former presidential candidate who ran against Mr. Taylor in 1997
was elected as Senior Senator. Mrs. Jewell Howard-Taylor
the wife of the former president
was also elected as Senior Senator (see note below).
In the first round of the presidential election
no candidate received an absolute majority. On 8 November 2005
a run-off was held between Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Mr. George Weah. Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf obtained 59.4 per cent of votes
becoming the first elected female head of State in Africa.
The newly elected parliament held its first session on 13 January 2006. Mr. Edwin Melvin Snowe
an ally of former president Taylor
was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and Mr. Isaac W. Nyenabo was elected President of the Senate.
Note:
Under transitional measures for elections to the Senate
the two candidates in each constituency who obtain the highest and second highest numbers of valid votes cast shall be elected. The former (known as "Senior Senators") will serve for nine years while the latter ("Junior Senators") will serve a first term of six years only
after the first elections. Thereafter
all senators are elected to serve a term of nine years. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 11 October 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
1'291'541
74.9%
|
|
Notes
|
Number of votes: 1
690
902*
Blank or invalid ballot papers: 31
206
Valid votes: 1
722
108
*Voters were allowed to vote for two candidates on a single ballot.
In all there were 1
352
730 registered electors of whom 61
189 were Internally Displaced Persons. They were allowed to vote only for presidential elections. |
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) |
|
|
|
|
23.30 |
|
|
| Unity Party (UP) |
|
|
|
|
13.30 |
|
|
| National Patriotic Party (NPP) |
|
|
|
|
10.00 |
|
|
| Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) |
|
|
|
|
10.00 |
|
|
| Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) |
|
|
|
|
10.00 |
|
|
| Liberty Party (LP) |
|
|
|
|
10.00 |
|
|
| Independents |
|
|
|
|
10.00 |
|
|
| National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) |
|
|
|
|
6.70 |
|
|
| All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) |
|
|
|
|
3.30 |
|
|
| National Reformation Party (NRP) |
|
|
|
|
3.30 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) |
7
|
|
|
|
|
| Unity Party (UP) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| National Patriotic Party (NPP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberty Party (LP) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) |
2
|
|
|
|
|
| All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| National Reformation Party (NRP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
25
5
16.67%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
National Elections Commission of Liberia: http://www.necliberia.org/ |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
