Washington, DC — After three months of talks in Accra and Akassombo, Ghana, Liberian political parties, representatives of civil society and the country's warring factions concluded negotiations Thursday. The talks ended with the selection of an interim chairman for the transitional government that will govern the country until 2006.
Gyude Bryant, 54, was chosen by an "electoral college" comprising the three warring parties - the outgoing government of former President Charles Taylor and two rebel groups, Lurd (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) and Model (Movement for Democracy in Liberia. Bryant's name was one of three submitted to the armed parties by the broad-based body representing Liberia's political and civic groups late Monday.
Delegates from political parties and civil society organizations selected the three candidates from a list of 11 vying for the position. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Unity Party received the highest number of votes (33); Rudolpf Sherman, chairman of the True Whig Party, came in second with 18 votes and Bryant came in third, after a tiebreak vote in which he defeated Togbana Tipoteh of the Liberian Peoples' Party and former Liberian vice-president Harry Moniba.
Tuesday and Wednesday were marked with drama and delay. Moniba issued a statement complaining that the voting process was flawed and calling on organizers to nullify the vote of Gyude Bryant. Moniba said that he had been unjustly barred from casting a ballot himself and that if he had, he would have received 18 votes and tied with Sherman for second place.
Negotiators from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) rejected his complaint, saying that according to the terms of the peace accord, only registered members of parties accredited to the conference were allowed to vote and that Moniba was not a registered participant. His political party had two representatives who took part in the vote, the mediators said. Organizers also rejected a call by Lurd to give their representatives time to regroup because they were "surprised" by the final list of candidates.
The talks opened on June 4, sponsored by Ecowas, with facilitation support from the United Nations, the African Union and the United States government. Retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former Nigerian head of state, served as chief negotiator.
The first agenda item for the peace talks was cessation of hostilities between government forces and the rebels who had had advanced to the outskirts of Monrovia, the capital city. A cease-fire agreement brought a halt to most of the killing for a month before clashes resumed between government forces and Lurd (Liberians United for Reconstruction and Democracy), whose soldiers fought their way into the city and captured the port.
The clashes, which involved extensive mortar shelling, created a severe humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people trapped in the city without access to food, water or electricity. The arrival of West African Peace keepers and a small group of U.S. Marines earlier this month once again brought fighting to a stop. Meanwhile, President Charles Taylor, who had been indicted by the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, was forced to vacate power. He stepped down and left for exile in Calabar, Nigeria on August 11.
The new interim chairman of the transitional government was born in Monrovia in January 1949 and graduated from Cuttington College, a private, Anglican-supported institution in rural Liberia, with a Bachelors degree in economics. Upon completion of his studies, Bryant worked at the Mesurado Fishing Company before joining the National Port Authority as assistant field manager.
In 1977, Bryant left the port to start his own company in Monrovia, specializing in mining and port machinery. Along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he was a founding member of the Liberia Action Party (LAP) in 1984. He became chairman of the party in 1992. In 2000, he and others organized a coalition of opposition parties committed to field a single candidate to run against Taylor in the elections that were supposed to take place this year, before escalation in the fighting led to a postponement.
Speaking from Accra, a Bryant spokesman said the new government would immediately embark on a healing process to bring together a nation that has been traumatized by 14 years of war. Other top priorities of the transitional government include: disarming and reintegrating combatants from all three factions, humanitarian assistance for the war-weary population, resettlement of refugees and displaced people; jump-starting the economy with the private sector as the main driver, and preparing the country for the electoral process, according to the peace plan. Elections are scheduled to be held in October 2005, with inauguration of the new government set for January 2006.
Bryant is described by fellow Liberians as a team player, a quiet person who is familiar with the critical issues confronting Liberian society today. Unlike many politicians who went into exile, Bryant never left Liberia throughout the years of war. He is married to Rosielee Williams, who works for United Airlines in the United States, and is the father of three children.
Interviewed by telephone after the session in Accra ended, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said she is proud of the overwhelming support she received from Liberia's political parties and civil society organizations. Sirleaf, a former Liberian finance minister who was jailed for her opposition to military rule and later headed the Africa division of the United Nations Development Programme, said the focus now must be on the country's future. "The most important thing was to get Taylor out and restore freedom to our people. We can now all work to put our lives back together."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She said she would turn her efforts to working inside Liberia to build up her party and its capacity to contribute. She does not intend, she said, to work as a government official but will lend support in her areas of expertise where possible.
The Liberian civil war began in 1989 when Charles G. Taylor launched an uprising to remove the military junta of Samuel Doe. After threatening to continue to wage war unless he was voted into power, Taylor won the presidency in 1997, in what was widely regarded as a desperate bid for peace from a war-ravaged public.
However, Taylor failed to implement a national recovery process and became an agent of instability in the region, igniting conflicts in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. His government came under attack from rebel movement Lurd in 2000 and Model in 2002, leading to the recent months of nationwide chaos that this week's agreement is designed to bring to an end.
