The Political Leader of the All Liberian Party, Benoni Urey, claims that the 2017 Presidential Elections were rigged, and that the results were dictated and manipulated. In his appearance on the Costa Show on March 10, the ALP Leader, Mr. Benoni Urey claimed that 2017 elections were rigged but reports from local and International observers described the 2017 Elections as “peaceful, transparent, free and fair”.
Local Voices Liberia IVerify team has fact checked this content and established that it is unproven.
To arrive to this conclusion, we reviewed reports by International Observer Missions assigned to Liberia in 2017 described the election as “peaceful, free, fair and transparent”.
A statement attributed to the UN Secretary General notes that “the conclusion of peaceful, transparent, free and fair elections confirms Liberia’s steady march towards lasting peace, stability and development”.
The African Union Election Observer Mission to Liberia in its final report also stated that it found that despite “some logistical, technical and legal challenges” faced by NEC, the elections were conducted in an orderly, transparent and credible manner, and in general accordance with Liberia’s national legal framework and international commitment for democratic elections.
Evidence
DESCRIPTION UN Secretary General Statement Link https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2017-12-29/statement-attributable-spokesman-secretary-general-liberia?_gl=1*1e6f8hq*_ga*MTM4ODEzMzI2NS4xNjYzOTMwOTkx*_ga_TK9BQL5X7Z*MTY3ODU0Nzg1Mi4yLjAuMTY3ODU0Nzg1Mi4wLjAuMA.
DESCRIPTION AU Election Observation Mission Report Link https://au.int/en/documents/20190514/report-african-union-election-observation-mission-10-october-and-26-december-2017
DESCRIPTION Carter Center Reports on 2017 Elections Link https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/liberia-121018.html
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
