Unity Party (Liberia)

The Unity Party ( UP shortcuts, German Unity Party ) is a political party in Liberia.

It was founded in 1984 by the late Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, which was also the first standard-bearer, and is currently the ruling party in the country.

The Unity Party participated in the first elections after the first coup in 1980, in part, and came against then- President Samuel Doe in October 1985. The party remained active in Liberian politics, and is now the ruling party in the Republic.

UP candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the 2005 presidential election, in which they defeated George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC ) in a second ballot. The party won a total of three seats in the Senate and eight in the House of Representatives.

In the previous elections, which were held on 19 July 1997, won UP presidential candidate Johnson Sirleaf 9.58% of the vote. The party won seven of 64 seats in the House of Representatives and 3 of 26 in the Senate. While international observers regarded the polls free and transparent as administratively, they found that they took 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 warfare, if he was defeated.

On 1 April 2009 the Liberia Unification Party and the Liberian Action Party merged with the UP.