Monrovia — Although the Liberian government believes there should be "constructive engagements" with the authors of Guinea's recent military coup, it does not back the new regime, says Liberia's Information Minister, Laurence K. Bropleh. AllAfrica's Boakai Fofana interviewed him after a Guinean delegation visited Monrovia seeking recognition.
Since we are beginning to hear mixed reactions to the coup in Guinea from West African leaders, what is Liberia's position? Some of the coup leaders came last week to get Liberia's backing. Is Liberia backing the coup?
We as a government… are not "backing the coup." We recognize there need to be constructive engagements with the coup leaders because the ultimate interest must be the Guinean people and the return to democratic rule. So President [Ellen Johnson] Sirleaf, as chair of the Mano River Union [comprising Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire], has continued to call on the coup leaders to respect the rule of law and return Guinea to democratic rule.
Leaders of Ecowas [the Economic Community of West African States] are reported to be making a decision on suspending Guinea at their forthcoming meeting. Will Liberia be persuading Ecowas not to do so?
We haven't gotten to Ecowas yet and we can't guess what the outcome will be. At that point we will be able to speak to what decisions will be made. Mind you, Liberia is a member of Ecowas. Liberia is a member of the African Union. However, Liberia exercises its own will and judgment in terms of looking at circumstances and, in terms of this case, what we are saying is that we should constructively engage the leadership now in Guinea because the ultimate goal should be to return Guinea to democratic civilian rule.
Why is Guinea being treated differently following this coup? Because normally, it's a matter of principle that governments would not support a coup. In the context of Liberia is it because of the security implications since Liberia is a next-door neighbor?
No. We don't support the coup. We have not supported the coup at all. We would rather that Guinea not have a coup. We are not celebrating the coup leadership. But what we are saying is that we need to look at the situation in a contextual way and urge the leadership now in Guinea to understand that coming to office by military means is not the answer. Africa has made too many gains democratically for us to digress......
You talked about looking at the situation in a contextual way. What is that context? What is the specific context as regards the situation in Guinea?
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The context is that, as we know, Guinea has had a situation where the people felt that true democracy had not taken hold. And so what we are urging now is through this circumstance, let us constructively engage the coup leaders and let the ultimate goal be to get Guinea a to true democratic rule where the tenets of democracy will be not only exercised but will be truly evident. And so we are looking at the situation where we need to turn it around in the interests of the Guinean people for once.
Let's talk about the visit of Libya's leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, to Liberia. Did he come to get Liberia's backing for the coup in Guinea?
No. no. He was shuttling around the region, and he has great regard for President Sirleaf. As you know Libya is engaging us in agriculture, tourism and so he wanted to talk to a leader, a woman that he reveres. So he stopped over. And he also ensured Libyan support for our economic recovery.
And did he mention the coup in Guinea?
The coup in Guinea was discussed in the sense where he, as leader of Libya, he empathizes with the people of Guinea and thinks that no bloodshed should come upon the people of West Africa, who have suffered enough.
And Liberia shares that, right?
Liberia shares that. Absolutely.
