Unity Party (Liberia)

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 was, until 2017, the ruling party.

Unity Party
AbbreviationUP
ChairpersonAmin Modad
Senate LeaderJoseph Boakai
(Former President of the Senate)
House LeaderAlex J. Tyler
(Speaker)
Founded1984
IdeologyEconomic liberalism
Liberal democracy
Political positionCentre to centre-right
International affiliationInternational Democrat Union
Continental affiliationDemocrat Union of Africa
ColoursGreen and maroon
SloganOne Nation, One People, With Liberty And Justice For All
Seats in the Senate
10 / 30
Seats in the House
20 / 73
Pan African Parliament
2 / 5
Website
http://www.unitypartyliberia.org

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 Sirleaf won the 2005 presidential elections, defeating 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]

The party lost in the run-off of the 2017 presidential and representatives elections to ex-footballer, George Weah.[3] On 13 January 2018 the party expelled[4] President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from the party for campaigning for and with Weah against her own Vice President, Joseph Boakai, who was campaigning on the party ticket.[5]

Electoral history

Presidential elections
Election Party candidate Votes % Votes % Result
First round Second round
1997 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 59,557 9.58% - - Lost N
2005 192,326 19.8% 478,526 59.4% Elected Y
2011 530,020 43.9% 607,618 90.7% Elected Y
2017 Joseph Boakai 446,716 28.8% 457,579 38.5% Lost N

House of Representatives elections
Election Vote % Seats +/– Position
1997 59,557 9.57%
7 / 120
 7 2nd
2005 123,373 12.49%
8 / 64
 1 4th
2011 226,291 17.76%
24 / 73
 2 1st
2017 220,508 14.32%
20 / 73
 4 2nd

Senate elections
Election Votes % Seats +/– Position
1997 59,557 9.57%
3 / 26
 3 2nd
2005 222,705 12.93%
4 / 30
 1 2nd
2011 164,851 12.85%
10 / 30
 1 1st

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
  3. http://www.necliberia.org/results2017
  4. "Liberia's Sirleaf expelled from her party". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  5. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42681795
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