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President in Waiting Stays Cool in Liberia
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, leading in unofficial vote tallies after a runoff election, greets parishioners after attending church services in Monrovia.
(By Chris Hondros -- Getty Images)
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"I don't think Mr. Weah himself understands the implications of what he's doing," she said. "But he's being fed these things and so he's repeating these things."
Despite Weah's accusations, Johnson-Sirleaf said that if certified as president, she would invite him to join her government, possibly as minister of youth and sports or as an ambassador.
Analysts said a more pressing problem for Johnson-Sirleaf would be how to deal with former warlords and disgruntled ex-combatants from the country's 14-year civil war, many of whom support Weah.
"Ellen needs to worry about the ex-fighters generally, but she will also need to be worried about the ex-generals in particular," Jaye said, adding that former fighters would remain loyal to their old commanders for a long time. "Ellen will need to provide a balance between pursuing justice and reconciliation," he said.
Johnson-Sirleaf said rehabilitating young former combatants was one of her top priorities. She said she intended to apply lessons learned by participants in U.N. programs in such countries as Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Mozambique, which successfully integrated opposition groups and rebels after bloody civil conflicts.
She also said she would take a personal approach to persuading former militia faction leaders not to take up arms again.
"I'm going to reach out to them . . . to assure them that I have absolutely nothing against them," she said in the interview. "They may not believe me at first, but I'll demonstrate it. . . . For some of them who have the requisite experience and education, I hope they'll accept some position in the government."
Even before her likely inauguration in January, Johnson-Sirleaf said, she wants to get a head start on a long list of urgent projects. Liberia has no electricity system, and she has promised to provide power to the capital within six months of taking office. She also wants to tackle land reform, which could require changing the constitution.
But some experts said even more profound changes are needed. Stephen Ellis, of the African Studies Center in Leiden in the Netherlands, said Johnson-Sirleaf -- and Liberians -- need to fundamentally rethink how their government operates.
"If you look back in Liberian history, there is no period of decent government," Ellis said. "It needs to be substantially reinvented. That's going to be a long process."
Johnson-Sirleaf said she was already making plans. In December, she said, she plans to hold a national conference, open to the public, to discuss issues including land reform, decentralization of power and the broader question of national identity.
