04/19/24
November 08, 2005
First soccer pro to become head of state?: Former AC Milan midfielder George Weah is in a run-off election to become president of Liberia. Liberia was founded in 1847 by freed American slaves and resentment with the ruling Americo-Liberian elite eventually boiled over into coups and conflict. Aside from [Weah's indigenous roots], Weah's high school drop-out and political novice status also strikes a chord with many of the one-time child soldiers, deprived of an education when they were whipped out of school and sent to the front line.
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 03:54 PM - 7 comments
I'm just finishing the book The Fate of Africa, so Weah sounds a little too familiar. Man of the people, totally unprepared for governance, with support from the uneducated and underprivileged. As much as I'd love for him to succeed if elected, it's almost a certainty that he won't. Liberia is a particularly terrible place, with 13% infant mortality and a life expectancy of around 39 years. Its capital, Monrovia, has had no running water or electricity for more than a decade. If you thought an inexperienced guy like Michael Brown was bad in New Orleans, can you imagine if it wasn't a temporary disaster and he had no budget?
posted by dusted at 05:47 PM on November 08, 2005
Haven't read the book, dusted, but thanks for the reference and I will look it up. IMHO, the worst thing that we in the West can do is to give up on Africa because it's 'too hard'. The result will be to condemn a large number of people to perpetual poverty unless we are prepared to engage with their elected leaders (like Weah) without imposing our own developmental ideologies. Here endeth the lesson.
posted by owlhouse at 06:44 PM on November 08, 2005
George Weah is not just any soccer player, he was FIFA's World Football Player of the Year, and African Football Player of the Century. Best o' luck with the politics.
posted by the red terror at 01:50 PM on November 09, 2005
Now he's looking even more familiar. I really hope he and his supporters don't resort to violence.
posted by dusted at 04:38 PM on November 09, 2005
Cool. When you access this thread, the Googleads on the right margin come up with travel offers to Liberia and Sierra Leone. I'm booking my trip NOW. Go George.
posted by owlhouse at 07:01 PM on November 09, 2005
I don't know Weah, but he is certainly looking like a sore loser: "As far as I am concerned there will be a re-run and I am going to pursue that," he said. Weah campaign officials filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Friday to halt vote counting. But the court rejected the appeal and referred them to the National Elections Commission. Ms Johnson-Sirleaf rejects claims of vote-rigging as absurd. She told the BBC she hoped Mr Weah would join her new government after "getting over his disappointment".
posted by dusted at 06:19 PM on November 14, 2005
Liberians hope that the presidential run-off, the first in the West African nation's history, will turn the page on 14 years of civil war and give them a leader who can turn the lights back on, get the water running, and provide education and healthcare for all. Good luck. We've hardly managed that here in the US. "George needs to go to school. This is no time for learning on the job." It's hard to disagree with a statement like this. Sure, Weah's a national hero and all and thus he may be a little more likely to unify the people, but it's going to take a lot more than that to get the lights back on, to get the water running and to provide education and healthcare. Anyway, it's pretty interesting to read about. I'll be watching to see what happens. I really hope that Liberia can start to see a little bit of peace and prosperity.