Calls for Action to Prevent Election Rigging, Violence in Liberia

Liberians will go to the polls on October 10, 2023 to elect a new president and members of the Legislature or retain incumbent President George Manneh Weah and his ruling Coalition for Democratic Change.

Gabriel I.H. Williams and Emmanuel D. Abalo, former leaders of the Press Union of Liberia, issued an open letter appealing for collective action to prevent rigging of the October 2023 presidential and general elections and avert violence in Liberia. "With our country facing increased instability, we call on all parties and candidates to come together and devise a mechanism to ensure free and fair democratic elections."

The letter also noted that consultations urgently needed to address serious concerns that Liberia's electoral process are being compromised by actions of the government, which appear to be working in partisanship with the National Elections Commission (NEC), a body constitutionally mandated to supervise free and fair elections in keeping with internationally established democratic standards.