There was a time when we thought we knew how to bring about a political change that reflected the will of the majority. That hope for a change was, of course, pinned on democracy. And we made our first ever dash for it democratically in 1985. There were doubts about the results, but there was no question about the process. If you ignored the results for a moment, you would have seen that we Liberians are a patient lot in the exercise of our right to choose a leader. We may not be all clear about what choices democracy affords us, but we certainly have the patience to give it another try.

Although we have not given up on democracy and the process of obtaining it, we are doing a lot of undemocratic wishing between elections. We wish, for instance, that President Charles Taylor would simply go away. What we don’t always stop to think about is that if Taylor is gone, there will be no vacancy. And this remains true whether he leaves on his own or whether he is pushed. No matter how he leaves, there will be a lot of joy expressed, mostly in the form of a dance.

We are pretty much aware that whoever gets rid of Taylor will give us something we have to put up with for a while: a) himself, and b) time to think about how to get rid of him. But that is not where the surprises lie. The surprises will come mainly from what to do with President Charles Taylor, after we strip him of his power. That is, if he survives the process of ousting him. Democratically speaking, a lot of people – in fact a majority of Liberians – will want him dead.

Luckily, we learned something from the 1980 coup – I hope. Neither secret nor public execution is good public relations even if the one executed is a convict in the court of law. And so the civilized thing to do is to apply the law of the land. And therein lies another problem. Seeking to apply the law of the land will alienate the majority of the population – especially those who suffered brutal crimes at the hands of Taylor and his government. But to pursue the law blindly will give the appearance that the feelings of Taylor’s victims are being ignored.

Of course unanimity will not be expected, so there will be no point of striving for it. We don’t even have to vote for what we must do, because if we vote now, we will do the wrong thing. That is why certain laws, for instance – the Bill of Rights in the United States – have placed certain rights beyond the reach of even the majority for the protection of the minority. Such laws have already been written down, and they were conceived at a time when we were not angry. Whatever we do now that was not already written will be the result of anger. And so we have no choice but to charge President Charles Taylor and put him on trial. Taylor will therefore have lawyers even at state expense, if he runs out of his personal resources to afford an adequate defense against our charges.

There will be plenty to argue about during the trial. For instance, how many of the legions of fools and idiots, who are working with Taylor now, should suffer the same fate as he? That, of course, will be like mixing cassava and coconuts. Fools are not necessarily criminals, and stupidity is not a crime. There are also many harmless idiots. Give them a good parking space, for instance, and they will be happy for a long stretch of time. But you have to make sure no one else parks in the space so designated. That’s when fools turn dangerous. We know this from our Liberian experience.

To determine the durability of democracy, it must be tested at full speed. And so, like the crash dummy, President Charles Taylor will be aboard democracy with all the protection built into it when it is put to the test. We cannot remove some of the protection of democracy for the purpose of assuring Taylor’s death as our collective wish. And so, during the trial, there will be invocation of international law, if Taylor exhausts all the protection afforded him by Liberian laws. So, let’s get used to something called the Geneva Convention and others like it that will prevent us from wringing the necks of those we think we know are criminals.

Therefore, if you are consumed by anger for all the care taken so that Taylor may be given due process under the law, just think that the thing at the wheel and going 80 miles an hour is not a dummy. It’s you. Your best hope therefore is the protection that was built in before we became angry with the one who is now fully protected. – Tarty Teh – [Washington, D.C., February 12, 2000]