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The People's Redemption Council (PRC) was a
military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
that ruled
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 ...
from 1980 to 1984. It was established after the
1980 Liberian coup d'état The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert of Liberia was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) u ...
wherein Samuel Doe seized power on 12 April 1980. The Council, with Doe as its chairman, promised a complete overhaul of Liberia's society, economy, and political system and the replacement of the corruption of previous regimes with respect for the rights of the Liberian people. The PRC had 17 founding members and was later expanded to 28. The PRC initially functioned as the executive and legislative body in Doe's government. However, over time Doe consolidated power as a central executive. In 1984, the PRC was dissolved and replaced by the Interim National Assembly.


History


Context

Since 1847, Liberia operated as an independent nation with a constitutional system modeled on that of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. For a long portion of its history, its government was dominated by
Americo-Liberians Americo-Liberian people (also known as Congo people or Congau people),Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of African Am ...
, a group of free people of color and freed slaves from the United States and their descendants who first established Liberia in 1822 as a colony of the American Colonization Society, a private philanthropic organization based in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and led by a number of leading American statesmen. From Liberia's independence until the coup that gave rise to the PRC, the Americo-Liberians controlled nearly every aspect of Liberian political and social life, eventually creating a strict one-party system organized around the
True Whig Party The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest political party in Liberia and Africa as a whole. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-Liberians in rural areas, its historic rival was the Re ...
. After the death of long-serving President
William Tubman William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (29 November 1895 – 23 July 1971) was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th president of Liberia and the longest-serving president in the country's history, serving from his election in 1944 until his dea ...
in 1971, William Tolbert, Jr., became president. Tolbert's administration, like his predecessor's, was characterized by political suppression, a government dominated by the executive, and a continuation of the True Whig Party's unquestioned control of the Liberian political sphere. In 1979, civil discord rose to an all-time high due to a 50% increase in rice prices, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Liberians in what became known as the Rice Riots of 1979. Public disaffection continued with Tolbert's decision to host the 1979
Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...
annual summit in
Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
, building a state-of-the-art conference center and hotel specifically for the event at a cost of more than
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
$25 million. In addition to an overall lack of development and a stagnant economy, this unrest precipitated the
1980 Liberian coup d'état The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert of Liberia was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) u ...
that would lead to the creation of the PRC.


Inception and operation

On 12 April 1980, Samuel K. Doe led a group of 17 soldiers in a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
that overthrew and killed then-president William Tolbert. By 16 April 1980, Doe's forces were able to begin consolidating power. The group formed the People's Redemption Council as the supreme legislative and executive power with Doe as its chairman. In the wake of the coup, the PRC emphasized a goal of creating a new system of governance and societal organization rooted in support of the country's commoners. Doe, as a native Liberian, claimed to be seeking equality of rights and status among all Liberians. Shortly after its formation, the PRC authorized the arrest of over 100 former government officials from the Tolbert administration. Several of them were brutally beaten and executed in the weeks following the coup. In its first fiscal year, the PRC increased military spending by 150%, which critics used to question the body's commitment to a transition towards democracy. By early 1981, Liberian debt had nearly reached $800 million. Under the PRC, Liberia's economy remained dependent on income from abroad. In mid-1981, the PRC created the National Constitutional Commission (NCC), the Constitutional Advisory Assembly (CAA), and Special Elections Commission (SEC) to, respectively, write a new constitution, revise the newly drafted constitution, and run democratic elections. Shortly after its founding, Doe and the PRC increased the size of the body. Three of these new members were former officials from the Tolbert administration. Over time, conflict between military and civilian members led to division between progressives and conservatives, especially along ethnic lines. Some PRC members criticized their fellow councilmen for engaging in the very corruption that they publicly disavowed. In 1982, Doe and military PRC members executed several civilian PRC members who opposed them, which effectively ended the intra-council conflict.


International response

After the coup, the United States, the
Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...
, and the West African Economic Community criticized Doe and the PRC. Additionally, the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
and the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
restricted loan terms offered to Liberia under the PRC.


Transition and disbandment

By December 1982, the NCC had completed its task of drafting a constitution. Despite disagreements between the PRC and the NCC concerning the timeline of a transition, the NCC's draft was submitted to the CAA for revision. After their revisions were completed in late 1983, a referendum took place on 3 July 1984, that ratified the constitution. With the ratification of the new constitution in 1984, the PRC was dissolved and replaced with the Interim National Assembly (INA) on 22 July 1984.


Composition

At its inception, the PRC consisted of 17 soldiers. The PRC quickly grew to include a handful of civilians and several high-ranking members of the previous administration, bringing the PRC's total membership to 28. The PRC was mainly made up of native Liberians and the majority of PRC members were Krahn, similarly to Doe, with a large number of members hailing from the same county as Doe.


Powers

Immediately after the coup, the PRC prohibited organized opposition, dissolved the Legislature of Liberia, and suspended the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
, leaving the PRC as the sole executive and legislative body in the national government. However, despite this consolidation of authority, Doe quickly consolidated executive and legislative power, effectively making the PRC a de facto cabinet rather than a body with powers of its own. Doe preserved his power through
clientelism Clientelism or client politics is the exchange of goods and services for political support, often involving an implicit or explicit ''quid-pro-quo''. It is closely related to patronage politics and vote buying. Clientelism involves an asymmetri ...
involving the army and by threat/use of force towards his opposition, including within the PRC itself.


Legacy

Immediately after the PRC was disbanded, many of its members pursued positions of authority in the new government. Doe would win election as president in a highly contested and controversial election as the nominee of the National Democratic Party of Liberia. Many former PRC members then became members of Doe's presidential cabinet. While the PRC ruled formally by decree, its decisions and amendments to Liberian law would continue in effect unless and until a successor body rescinded them. Under the new constitution, Article 97, referred to by some as "transitional provisions", provided no action taken by the PRC "shall be questioned in any proceedings whatsoever" and prevented any court or tribunal from hearing any case pertaining to the 1980 coup, the suspension of the prior constitution, the establishment and actions of the PRC, or any legal decisions made or penalties imposed by the PRC. Colonist-native ethnic tension in Liberia had been prevalent since the arrival of the Americo-Liberians in the early 1800s. Doe's favoritism towards the Krahn people increased tensions by encouraging boundaries and status differences among native Liberian ethnic groups. These differences led to sometimes violent relationships with the Gio and Mano peoples. Under Doe and the PRC, poor nutrition, lack of access to drinking water, unemployment, and rising violent crime rates characterized life in Liberia. In the political sphere, political imprisonment was high and political discourse was suppressed.


See also

* History of Liberia


Notes


References

* {{Authority control
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 ...
1980 establishments in Liberia