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Liberia: Nobel prize no guarantee for re-election
Weah, a former FIFA World Player of the Year, is again her main contender. However, in a move intended to silence critics he has agreed to run as the No. 2 on a ticket alongside presidential candidate Winston Tubman, who like Sirleaf was educated at Harvard. Weah also recently earned a business degree from DeVry University in Miami.
“It’s good that we have another Harvard graduate who is going to be in the race, but what is important is not where you went to school,” Tubman told The Associated Press. “It’s what you are doing. And Mrs. Sirleaf has had almost six years now to demonstrate what she can do.”
It’s not difficult to point to problems in this nation of 3.8 million. More women die in childbirth here than in almost any other nation. So do children under 5. Despite the flow of aid and eight years of peace, Liberia has only inched up two spots from the bottom of a United Nations index tracking development. Liberia ranks 162nd on the 169-country index — up from 164th a few years ago.
Another criticism of Sirleaf is her alleged role in the nation’s civil war. In front of Liberia’s truth and reconciliation commission, Sirleaf acknowledged having given money to warlord Charles Taylor, whose rebels invaded in 1989, marking the start of the 14-year conflict. She argued she stopped financing Taylor when his ruthless tactics became clear.
Human rights experts have described Sirleaf’s role in the conflict as minimal, but opposition candidates lambasted the Oslo Committee for awarding her the Peace prize. Tubman accuses the president of bringing wars and hardships to Liberia instead of peace.
“But there is another way to look at it,” Tubman said. “Mrs. Sirleaf is about to leave power. She’s about to be voted out of power by her people. So it is good that she has a consolation prize.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
