Unity Party (Liberia)

Unity Party
Chairperson Varney Sherman
President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Senate Leader Joseph Boakai
(President)
House Leader Alex J. Tyler
(Speaker)
Founded 1984
Ideology Economic liberalism,
Liberal democracy
Political position Centre
International affiliation International Democrat Union
Continental affiliation Democrat Union of Africa
Colours Green and maroon
Slogan One Nation, One People, With Liberty And Justice For All
Seats in the Senate
10 / 30
Seats in the House
25 / 73
Pan African Parliament
2 / 5

The Unity Party (UP) is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. Officially founded at Buchanan in Grand Bassa County, the party was established on 27 July 1985.[1] The Unity Party participated in the first elections after the 1980 coup, running against President Samuel Doe in October 1985. The Party has remained active in Liberian politics since and is now the ruling party.

In the elections held on 19 July 1997, the UP presidential candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won 9.58% of the vote. The party won 7 of 64 seats in the House of Representatives and 3 of 26 in the Senate. While international observers deemed the polls administratively free and transparent, they noted that it had taken place in an atmosphere of intimidation because most voters believed that former rebel leader and National Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Charles Taylor would return to war if defeated.

Unity Party candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the 2005 presidential elections, besting George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in a run-off. The party also won 3 seats in the Senate and 8 in the House of Representatives. The merger of the Liberia Unification Party and the Liberian Action Party into the Unity Party on 1 April 2009 substantially increased its representation in the Legislature.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "UP To Do Formal Launching Tomorrow". [Monrovia] SunTimes, 1985-07-26: 1/13.
  2. ↑ UP, LAP, LUP Mergedâ€(sic)¦Ellen Says It’s(sic) A Dream Come True, The Liberian Journal, Jimmey C. Fahngon, April 2, 2009
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