292
MARGAI, ALBERT
continuation in power. A decisive corner had been turned in Philippine history. In the fall of 1985 Marcos announced snap elections before the political opposition could crystallize around Aquino. But he had totally underestimated the depth of public resentment against his regime and the determination of Corazon to avenge her husband’s death. Not surprisingly, Marcos was declared the winner on February 7, 1986, but amid charges of wholesale fraud. As discontent spread to the middle classes, who joined ever-growing street protests, Marcos ordered the military into action. Many troops rebelled rather than fire into the crowds and, furthermore, a rebellious army base was cordoned off by a million protesters. Neither the defense secretary not other leading generals would encourage the troops to take action. Marcos then realized that the game was up and, urged by the United States, he and Imelda left for Hawaii on February 25, 1986, just as Corazon Aquino was sworn into office. Their estimated personal worth was then in excess of between $5 billion and $10 billion, looted from the national treasury. While in exile Marcos used his great wealth to fund several aborted uprisings against the Aquino administration, all of which failed. Marcos died in Hawaii on September 28, 1989, a hated symbol of authoritarian excess upended by an ebullient display of people power. His body was not allowed to return to the Philippines until 1993. Further Reading Celoza, Albert F. Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1997. Lande, Carl H. “The Return of ‘People Power’ in the Philippines.” Journal of Democracy 12 (April 2001): 88–102. Marcos, Ferdinand E. The Democratic Revolution in the Philippines. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979. Roach, Frank R. “Benevolent Meddling: The United States’s Involvement in the 1986 Overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos.” Unpublished master’s thesis, California State University–Dominguez Hills, 2000. Thompson, Mark R. The Anti-Marcos Struggle: Personalistic Rule and Democratic Transition in the Philippines. New Haven, Conn:. Yale University Press, 1995.
Margai, Albert (1910–1980) prime minister of Sierra Leone Albert Michael Margai was born in Gbangbatok, Sierra Leone, the son of a Mende businessman. He was educated at Catholic missionary schools and served several years as a medical nurse before being licensed as a pharmacist. In 1944 Margai visited England for the purpose of studying law and three years later he was called to the bar. He returned to Sierra Leone the following year, becoming the colony’s first trained attorney. In this capacity Margai established a successful practice in the Protectorate region, which was in the hinterland and away from the Creole-dominated capital of Freetown. He was also active as a solicitor and advocate in the Sierra Leone Supreme Court. By 1951 Margai had been elected to the Protectorate assembly and with his brother, MILTON MARGAI, he helped to found the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). This was an organization dedicated to political independence from Great Britain, if by gradual means. Over the next five years Margai enjoyed repeated success in local elections, but he grew disillusioned with his elder brother’s conservatism. In 1957 he successfully challenged Milton for leadership of the SLPP, but he was talked into relinquishing control. When his brother became Sierra Leone’s first prime minister in 1959, Albert declined a cabinet post and instead founded his own organization, the People’s National Party (PNP), in concert with Siaka Stevens. The rift between the brothers remained unhealed until 1960, when Margai allowed the PNP to join a united front government for the purpose of constitutional negotiations with Great Britain. Margai had a conspicuous role in these discussions and won appointment as minister of natural resources. Stevens, meanwhile, who was increasingly more radical, broke with the PNP and founded his own All People’s Congress (APC). On April 27, 1961, Sierra Leone became an independent nation with Milton Margai as prime minister and brother Albert holding the portfolio of minister of finance. The pace of Margai’s political fortunes quickened following his brother’s death on April 29, 1964, when he was appointed prime minister to succeed him. Many in the SLPP leadership protested the constitutionality of this move, and several cabinet ministers were dismissed in consequence. Nonetheless Margai was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965 and generally accepted as the legitimate head of state. He also maintained a high