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| Liberia |
This article is part of the series: |
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Constitution
Legislature
Presidency
Judiciary
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Other countries · Atlas |
The 1997 Liberian general election was held on 19 July 1997 as part of the 1996 peace agreement ending the First Liberian Civil War. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate were up for election. Voter turnout was around 89%.[1]
Former rebel leader Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party (NPP) won the election by a substantial margin; Taylor won 75.3% of the vote in the presidential election, whilst the NPP won the same number of votes in the parliamentary election.[2] Taylor was inaugurated as president on 2 August 1997.
Taylor campaigned on the slogan "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him." [3] The elections were overseen by the United Nations' peacekeeping mission, United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia, along with a contingent from the Economic Community of West African States.[4] Taylor won the election in a landslide, garnering 75 percent of the vote. Taylor's toughest competitor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, collected only 10 percent of the vote. Taylor's victory has been widely attributed to the belief that he would resume the war if he lost.
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| Candidate | Party | Number of Votes | % of Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Taylor | National Patriotic Party (NPP) | 468,443 | 75.33% |
| Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Unity Party (UP) | 59,557 | 9.58% |
| Alhaji G.V. Kromah | All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) | 25,059 | 4.02% |
| Cletus Wotorson | Alliance of Political Parties (ALLIANCE) | 15,969 | 2.57% |
| Gabriel Baccus Matthews | United People's Party (UPP) | 15,604 | 2.51% |
| Togba-Nah Tipoteh | Liberian People's Party (LPP) | 10,010 | 1.61% |
| George Boley | National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) | 7,843 | 1.26% |
| Harry Moniba | Liberia National Union (LINU) | 6,708 | 1.08% |
| George T. Washington | People's Democratic Party of Liberia (PDPL) | 3,497 | 0.56 |
| Martin Sheriff | National Reformation Party (NRP) | 2,965 | 0.48 |
| Chea Cheapoo | Progressive People's Party (PPP) | 2,142 | 0.34 |
| Henry Fahnbulleh | Reformation Alliance Party (RAP) | 2,067 | 0.33 |
| Fayah Gbollie | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 2,016 | 0.32 |
| Total | 621,880 | 100 | |
Note: The Alliance of Political Parties was a coalition of the Liberian Action Party (LAP) and Liberia Unification Party (LUP).
Due to the system of proportional representation used in the election, legislative seats were distributed to parties on the basis of percentage of votes won by their respective presidential candidates.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | House | |||
| National Patriotic Party (NPP) | 468,443 | 75.33 | 21 | 49 |
| Unity Party (UP) | 59,557 | 9.57 | 3 | 7 |
| All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) | 25,059 | 4.03 | 2 | 3 |
| Alliance of Political Parties (ALLIANCE) | 15,969 | 2.57 | 0 | 2 |
| United People's Party (UPP) | 15,604 | 2.51 | 0 | 2 |
| Liberian People's Party (LPP) | 10,010 | 1.61 | 0 | 1 |
| National Democratic Party of Liberia | 7,843 | 1.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Liberian National Union | 6,703 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 |
| People's Democratic Party of Liberia | 3,497 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 |
| National Reformation Party | 2,965 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Progressive People's Party | 2,142 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Reformation Alliance Party | 2,067 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Free Democratic Party | 2,016 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 621,880 | 100 | 26 | 64 |
| Source: Nohlen et al | ||||
Note: The Alliance of Political Parties was a coalition of the Liberian Action Party (LAP) and Liberia Unification Party (LUP).
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