Monrovia – The Liberia Crusaders for Peace (LCP) and its partners have embarked on a nationwide peace festival to create awareness to the public in avoiding election violence as the country gets ready for election next year.
Election violence arising out of competitive elections has been particularly prevalent in countries with weak institutions, indicating that democratization may in fact increase nationalism and armed conflict.
The risk of election violence can be exacerbated in countries with notable societal and cultural diversity, as is the case with most African countries with Liberia not being exceptional.
Poor post-independence management of diversity in many African countries has contributed to marginalization, exclusion, political instability and incidents of conflict.
In 2011 there was election violence in Liberia when the main opposition political party Congress for Democratic Change’s (CDC) headquarters was stormed by violence crowd after the party back off the second round of the election.
In the spirit of preventing future electoral violence, the Executive Director of LCP Madam Juli Endee at a news conference said the nationwide peace festival was intended to help the government of Liberia and the National Elections Commission (NEC) as well as developing partners in mobilizing the general Liberian public in promoting lasting peace in Liberia.
She said the initiative was also intended to re-establishing the co-existence of cultural relations with all counties.
“The peace that Liberia enjoys must be sustained through nonviolence, durable peace, stability and the participation of all Liberians before, during and after elections campaign in Liberia,” she said.
Madam Endee Justified that Liberia was recovering from a protracted civil war, which had many actors, coupled with the low level of understanding and appreciation for basic tenets of human rights, peaceful co-existence among nations and democratic values. She said during the 14-year Liberian civil war, Liberians suffered tremendous losses in human lives, human resources, capital investments and infrastructural development.
“Sine qua non (essential condition) of transformation and development in every country around the world, it is indispensible to solidify the gains made over the last 10 years, hence the need for continuous support to local and traditional peace building initiatives and programs is paramount, peace-building embodies a vision of a society that is painful, respects and protects the of citizens and ensures that disputes and tensions which are normal to any society are handled in a way that prevents their escalation into organized violence,” she noted.
She said non-violence and lasting peace among Liberians during any elections was only assured when its people have a firm grasp and deep appreciation for those things and values that unite them as a people and void those things that tend to divide them.
She noted that while development community often looks to elections to stabilize and legitimize government, election related violence is a unique form of conflict and requires specially designed responses for effective prevention.
Ambassador Endee said no person should face death to cast a vote or for their choice made during elections, saying the ability of a country to successfully conduct non-violent elections was a crucial indicator of the consolidation of its democracy and a necessary condition for free, fair and citizen participation.
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