Elections to Endorse Doe
Ben Mensah
The consolidation of the coup of 1980 lies in the transfer of power to civilians other than those with American ancestry. But with reports that no credible leadership is emerging from the other quarters, Gen. Doe may be too willing to fill the vacuum.Liberia's march towards civilian rule has been fraught with so much drama and uncertainties which demand much caution in the analysis of events in that country.
The other day when the Liberian Foreign Minister Mr T. Ernest Eastman was interviewed by the media about the implementation of the timetable towards a democratically elected civilian government, he ended his answer by stating that the political future of his country could only be described as fluid.
This aura of uncertainty had been increased by the overthrow of the democratic civilian rule in Nigeria on 31st December, which was enthusiast- ically welcomed by Head of State Dr Samuel Doe.
However, a semblance of a definite development is emerging on the horizon with the latest report that the government of Dr Samuel Doe is still committed to return Liberia to civilian rule in April next year as originally pledged and that the ban on political activity is to be lifted on 20th April this year.
DILEMMA
Even then the significance and enthusiasm for a possible civilian rule in a country in such a volatile area like West Africa have dimmed drastically due to the failure of Presidential democracy in Nigeria, a country which stood a better chance of success in that constitutional exercise than Liberia.A former American colony. Liberia's political power was dominated by the descendants of the Americo Liberian community whose True Whig party was the country's sole political organisation until 1980. Indeed the coup of the then Master-Sergeant Samuel Doe was specifically aimed at ending this domination after the rice riots of the same period had provided him with a propitious pretext.
Yet it looks like the remnants of the Americo-Liberian class who with their financial and educational advancement over the indigenous Liberians are threatening to resurface on the political scene.
This is the dilemma of Gen Doe and his military colleagues which manifests itself in their hesitancy to pursue plans to return the country to civilian rule. A statement attributed to the Foreign Minister Mr E. Ernest Eastman that no credible alternative to the present government was emerging could also be viewed as a symptom of this dilemma.
But General Doe has announced to the whole world before President Reagan of the United States and at the United Nations General Assembly of his commitment to civilian rule in Liberia. He would want to remain honourable in this pledge but he has a few problems to grapple with.
The first is the realisation by the civilians that the military after exercising political power have the tendency to continue to enjoy it until it is absolutely impossible for them to do so. There is therefore justifiable suspicion of Gen Doe's intentions and actions which he must endeavour to dispel and prove that he is of a different breed from his military counterparts in Nigeria and Ghana who seized power, handed it back to the civilians and retook it.
WIND OF CHANGE
On the other hand if he cares less about this anxiety being expressed then he has a ready formula that has worked well in Ghana, Nigeria and Upper Volta in recent months, to follow.But then he must be prepared to contend with the wind of change that is blowing across the entire West Africa. In the words of the eminent Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, since hunters have learnt to shoot without missing their targets birds too have learnt to fly without perching.
The civilians who will take over from General Doe, armed with the Ghanaian and Nigerian experiences might move faster in this cat and mouse nature of politics in West Africa to ensure that the military is no longer operative. However, it seems to me that General Doe is poised to circumvent these pitfalls by simply transforming his administration into a civilian one.
Israeli Linkage
His coup of 1980 had the objective of taking political power away from one class of people to another. The consolidation of this achievement lies in the transfer of power to civilians other than those with American ancestry. But it is reported that no credible leadership is emerging from the other quarters, thereby creating a vacuum. Such a situation is proving too enticing to be ignored by General Doe who can emulate the example of General Eyadema of Togo by organising a political movement to support his continued leadership.This process begins with sections of the society led by their traditional rulers calling on the present leaders not to rush the country to civilian rule with the argument that civilian rule per se does not guarantee good government and that they want the present government to bring to fruition the good programmes initiated by them.
Echoes of this drama have already started to sound in Liberia and with General Doe having initiated such fundamental policies as re-establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, he will be too eager to hang on to power to supervise its far reaching consequences.
That being the case the forthcoming elections will be used merely as a bridge to transform General Doe into a President of civilian administered Liberia. Let General Doe prove me wrong!
