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Liberia elections, 1997

Liberian presidential election, 1997
Liberia
← 1985 19 July 1997 2005 →
  Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, April 2010.jpg
Nominee Charles Taylor Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Party National Patriotic Unity
Popular vote 468,443 59,557
Percentage 75.33% 9.58%

President before election

Ruth Perry
Independent

Elected President

Charles Taylor
National Patriotic


Ruth Perry
Independent

Charles Taylor
National Patriotic

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%. 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. 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." 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. Taylor won the election in a landslide, garnering 75 percent of the vote. Taylor's closest competitor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, collected only 10 percent of the vote.

In the United States, there was a movement to resettle free-born blacks and freed slaves who faced legislated limits, in Africa and predominantly in Liberia, believing blacks would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the U.S. The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816 in Washington, DC for this purpose, by a group of prominent politicians and slaveholders. During the mid 19th century, there were continuous clashes between Liberian government and British merchants from Sierra Leone. The merchants were of the argument that the country had no rights to impose taxes. The elites in the colony wanted to declare sovereignty to overcome the issue, resulting in the declaration. During the 1846 referendum, there was a voting on declaration of independence to the nation. On 26 July 1847, the nation declared itself independent based on the popular voting and thus became the first democratic country in Africa. The country was spotted with frequent military coups and political disturbances.


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