The People's Democratic Party of Liberia (PDPL) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. It participated in the 1997

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

and fielded candidates in the 11 October 2005

as part of the four-party

Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia The Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) was a political coalition that was formed to contest the 2005 Liberian general election. Initially, COTOL consisted of the Liberian Action Party (LAP), Liberia Unification Party (LUP), People ...

(COTOL).

History

In 1997, PDPL presidential candidate George T. Washington won 0.56% of the vote while the party failed to win any representation in the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. In 2005, COTOL candidate

Varney Sherman Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi Sherman (born 16 February 1953) is a Liberian politician and the former chairman of the Unity Party (Liberia), Unity Party. He is currently under OFAC sanctions by the United States. Early life Sherman was born on 16 Febru ...

won 7.8% of the vote in the presidential poll. The coalition won eight seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and seven in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. Both the PDPL and the LAP withdrew from COTOL in 2006, effectively ending the coalition. The party was disqualified from contesting the 2011 presidential and legislative elections. In 2015, the party joined a political alliance with the People's Democratic Party of Liberia to form the

Coalition for Democratic Change The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) is a political alliance in Liberia. History The alliance was certified by the National Elections Commission on 29 December 2016 to contest the 2017 general elections. The coalition initially consisted ...

. Their leader is

George Weah George Manneh Oppong Weah (born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional Association football, footballer who served as the 25th president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. Before his election for the presidency, Weah served ...

. The alliance won in the 2017 general election. In 2024, the party withdrew from the

(CDC), after being a founding member in 2016.

References

2. Political parties in Liberia {{Liberia-party-stub