The Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) is a political party in Liberia.
In 2010, former warlord, Nimba County Senator Prince Johnson founded the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP). [1] He contested the 2011 presidential election with the party. [2] Ahead of the 2014 Senate election, Johnson was expelled from the NUDP. [3] Johnson won re-election to the Senate as an independent. [4] By November 2015, Johnson had begun the task of founding a new political party, the MDR. [5]
The MDR was certified by the National Elections Commission in May 2016. [6] Senator Prince Johnson was initially the leader of the MDR. [7] Johnson contested the presidency with the party, alongside running mate Audrian R. Smith-Forbes, in the 2017 election. The MDR ticket won 8.2% of the vote. It came in fourth place, behind the Liberty Party. [8] Johnson supported Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) candidate George Weah in the subsequent run-off election. [9] Weah was ultimately elected president. [8]
In the 2017 House of Representatives election, the MDR ran 38 candidates. [10] Two were elected: Jeremiah Koung in the Nimba #1 district and Gunpue L. Kargon in the Nimba #4 district. [11] In the 2020 election, Rep. Koung was elected to the Senate under the MDR banner. [12]
By late 2022, Johnson withdrew his and the MDR's support for President Weah and the CDC. Johnson cited the lack of Nimba County representation in top appointed positions. [13] In December 2022, Johnson resigned as head of the MDR. [14] In an MDR convention on 22 December, Senator Koung was elected standard bearer. [15] As standard bearer, Koung continued Johnson's policy of opposing the CDC. [16] In May 2023, the MDR's National Executive Committee expelled three senior officials including Rep. Kargon and National MDR Vice Chairman for Governmental Affairs Wilfred Bangura for maintaining loyalty to the CDC. They violated the party's constitution, which prohibits loyalties to other parties. [17]
After disclosing his breaking away from the CDC, Johnson announced he was seeking collaboration with other opposition parties. [17] On 28 April 2023, former vice president and standard bearer of the Unity Party (UP), Joseph Boakai announced MDR Standard Bearer Koung as his running mate for his 2023 presidential run. [18] After the initial October election, neither Boakai nor incumbent President Weah received a majority of the vote, triggering a run-off election in November. [19] On 17 November 2023, after the run-off election, President Weah conceded the election, resulting in Boakai becoming president-elect and Koung becoming vice president-elect. [20]
In the 2023 legislative elections, MDR candidates won elections in four House districts in Nimba County: #3, #4, #6, and #8. [21] Johnson was re-elected in the Senate. [22]
After President Boakai's inauguration, there were fractures between him and Johnson in the following months. By March 2024, Johnson had been disappointed with Boakai's appointments, again claiming too little representation from Nimba County and the MDR. Vice President Koung has also reportedly exerted less influence over Boakai than Johnson expected. Boakai's calling for a war crime court, an idea opposed by Johnson, has been another friction point between the two. In response, Johnson has been strategizing against Boakai and the UP in the upcoming 2024 by-elections. [23]
The Politics of Liberia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic modeled on the government of the United States, whereby the President is the head of state and head of government; unlike the United States, however, Liberia is a unitary state as opposed to a federation and has a pluriform multi-party system rather than the two-party system that characterizes US politics. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the legislature.
Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician who has served as a senator for Nimba County since 2006. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War.
The National Patriotic Party (NPP) is a political party in Liberia. It was formed in 1997 by members of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia following the end of the First Liberian Civil War.
Elections in Liberia occur solely at the national level. The head of state, the President of Liberia, is elected to a six-year term in a two-round system, in which a run-off between the two candidates with the highest number of votes is held should no single candidate earn a majority of the vote in the first round. The Legislature has two elected chambers.
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October 2005, with a runoff election for the presidency held on 8 November. The presidency and all seats in the House of Representatives and Senate were up for election. The elections were the first held since 1997 and marked the end of the political transition following the second civil war, having been stipulated in the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2004. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former World Bank employee and Liberian finance minister, won the presidential contest and became the first democratically elected female African head of state in January 2006.
The Unity Party (UP) is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. Officially founded in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, the party was established on 27 July 1985. The Unity Party participated in the first elections after the 1980 coup, running against President Samuel Doe in October 1985. The party has remained active in Liberian politics since and is the current ruling party following the 2023 Liberian general election.
Congress for Democratic Change is a Liberian political party formed by supporters of George Weah's during the 2005 presidential campaign.
Joseph Nyumah Boakai is a Liberian politician who is the 26th and current president of Liberia. He previously served as the 29th vice president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and as the minister of agriculture from 1983 to 1985. Boakai ran for president in 2017, losing the election to George Weah. He went on to defeat Weah in the 2023 election.
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October 2011, with a second round of the presidential election on 8 November. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and half of the seats in the Senate, were up for election. The election was overseen by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
The National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP) was a political party in Liberia.
The People's Unification Party (PUP), also known as the Native People's Party, is a political party in Liberia.
General elections were held in Liberia on 10 October 2017 to elect the President and House of Representatives. No candidate won a majority in the first round of the presidential vote, so the top two finishers – CDC standard-bearer Amb. George Weah and UP standard-bearer Vice President Joseph Boakai – competed in a run-off on 26 December. The second round was originally scheduled for 7 November, but was postponed after LP standard-bearer Cllr. Charles Brumskine, in third place, challenged the result in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the challenge, which would have forced a re-run of the first round had it been successful, and the second round was held on 26 December. Weah emerged victorious with 60% of the vote.
Gbehzohngar Milton Findley is a Liberian politician and businessman. He is a former President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the administration of President Weah until 28 July 2020.
General elections were held in Liberia on 10 October 2023 to elect the President, House of Representatives and half of the Senate. Incumbent president George Weah was eligible for a second term. No candidate won a majority in the first round, with Weah narrowly placing first over opposition leader Joseph Boakai, which meant both advanced to a runoff held on 14 November 2023. Boakai defeated Weah by just over one percentage point in the closest runoff in Liberia's history, and Weah conceded the election peacefully.
Events in the year 2023 in Liberia.
Jeremiah Kpan Koung is a Liberian politician who is the 31st and current vice president of Liberia. He served in the House of Representatives of Liberia from 2012 to 2020. He was elected to the Senate of Liberia in 2020. He became standard bearer of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction in 2022. In 2023, Joseph Boakai selected Koung as his running mate during his presidential run.
Gunpue L. Kargon is a Liberian politician.
The Liberia Restoration Party (LRP) is a political party in Liberia.
The Vision for Liberia Transformation (VOLT) is a political party in Liberia.