On December 24, 1989, change revealed itself to Liberia through the uncompromising power of BULLETS that took away the lives of about 250,000 people. Interestingly, Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was an engineer of the revolution at the time. Exactly 28 years after, change revealed itself again, but this time, through the BALLOTS. Liberians went to the run-off election on December 26, 2017, to elect a new president to replace outgoing president Ellen Sirleaf. The run-off was between soccer legend George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change and Vice President, Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party.
Whoever president Sirleaf-Johnson voted for is her privacy, but the facial expression seen in this photo sent out a strong message. Voting, I think, should be a joyful expression of everyone's political will which determines who leads and who does not. When one wears a facial expression, like that of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's while making a conscious decision, to me, sends a strong message of anger, and as the songwriter says, "don't make a decision when you're mad (angry)". The anger that she wore didn't derive from being deprived of self-worth or basic social services like the ordinary Liberians. It definitely didn't come as a result of not ending her two terms in office. As a president for 12 years, it should have been a happy moment, but for Ellen, it didn't seem. Many questions may arise from this photo considering the last months of political rivalry and electoral problems in Liberia. Regardless of President Sirleaf's facial expression, a vote was cast and a winner and a loser will be determined in two days when the National Elections Commission announces the results.
Before my next article on this issue, I will speak to a psychologist on how voting with anger impacts a conscious decision.
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