Breaking News: Ellen Announces Bid for Second Term

Update: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has formally announced that she will run for a second term.

The Commander-in-Chief made the announcement at the end of her annual address to the Legislature at the Capitol Building at about 5:30 p.m. this afternoon, Monrovia time.

"I have spent the past four years, sometimes to the neglect of family and friends building the foundations upon which our economic recovery and our future prosperity will be based. I have carried the big load and I have accepted the responsibility when we have not reached our goals. You have acknowledged that and understood my position. You have been there with me. You have been there with me," the President told the Legislators, members of cabinet and other distinguished guests.

"I know from whence we came yesterday. I know where we are today; I know where we ought to be tomorrow and I know how we will get there.

"Therefore, however I act, whatever I do, it will be for you. And so it is for these reasons and to bring to an end all speculations, that I now announce to you and to the thousands of supporters in radio land and abroad that I will be a candidate, a formidable candidate, in the 2011 elections. Let us travel the rest of this road together knowing that the God who brought us this far will not leave us."

A full text of the President's speech, courtesy of the Executive Mansion, is attached.
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MONROVIA – Following four years in office, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will today, January 25, appear before members of the 52th National Legislature on Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on government activities and the way forward.

The appearance of the Liberian leader at the Capitol Building is in compliance with Article 58 of the Liberian Constitution of 1986.

Article 58 of the Constitution provides that “The President shall, on the fourth working Monday in January of each year, present the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing session, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic. In presenting the economic condition of the Republic the report shall cover expenditure as well as income.”

The President, according to both legislative and executive protocols, will be accompanied to the Legislature by high-powered members of the diplomatic corps, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) as well as other friendly partners whose institutions have contributed to the progress of Liberia.

The annual address to the Legislature is also expected to bring together members of her cabinet, deputies and assistant ministers.

In line with article 58 of the Constitution, Sirleaf is expected to deliver a progress report on the country’s economy, detailing expenditure and income.

Among other issues to be discussed in her address is the long-awaited disclosure of the winner of the bid put out by Government for the Western Cluster Iron Ore Mine in Grand Cape Mount County, the country’s power plant project, the construction of roads and the status of Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).

The ceremony, according to legislative protocol, is to begin at 4 p.m. in the Richard R. Tolbert joint chamber at the National Legislature.

Today’s fifth session of the 52th Legislature will be presided over by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex Tyler, and assisted by the President of the Liberian Senate, Vice President Joseph Boakai.