A Monrovia businessman, Gyude Bryant, has been selected to lead the transition government that will run Liberia for two years until democratic elections are held.
An 'electoral college' made up of the country's three warring factions chose Bryant, chairman of the Liberia Action Party and a prominent Episcopal layman, after long negotiations Wednesday and early Thursday.
"I see myself as a healer," Bryant said, following his selection ahead of two other finalists for the post, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former Liberian finance minister and senior United Nations official, and Rudolph Sherman, leader of the True Whig Party.
The three won a Monday night vote by representatives of the Liberian political parties and civil society organizations and the warring factions who have been delegates to peace talks convened by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in Ghana. Sirleaf led that Monday night tally with 33 votes, followed by Sherman with 18.
Bryant's selection was announced by the Ecowas mediator, retired Nigerian general and former head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar. "The first step of unifying the people starts from today," Abubakar said, as he declared the end of the peace talks, which began on June 4. "Do not let your people down."
Bryant initially got 17 votes, along with two others, Togbah Nah Tipoteh and Harry Moniba, a former Liberian vice president. When representatives of the three warring parties deadlocked over the final choice, Bryant emerged as a compromise candidate upon which all sides could agree. Wesley Momo Johnson of the United People's Party was selected for the position of vice chairman.
Under the terms of the peace agreement signed Monday, the transition government will take office on October 14, replacing the current government now headed by President Moses Blah, who assumed the office after Charles Taylor stepped down and left the country on August 11. Elections are scheduled to be held in October 2005, with inauguration of the elected government slated for January 2006.
