Liberians head to the polls Tuesday to determine whether or not at hand former footballer George Weah a second time period as president regardless of a controversial file, or to elect political veteran Joseph Boakai regardless of his age.
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The run-off is predicted to be shut between the rivals, who additionally confronted off in 2017 when Weah gained within the second spherical with greater than 61 %.
Within the first spherical of voting on October 10, Weah, 57, and Boakai, 78, got here roughly neck and neck on greater than 43 %, with the incumbent taking a 7,126-vote lead.
This yr’s election is the primary for the reason that United Nations in 2018 ended its peacekeeping mission in Liberia, created after greater than 250,000 folks died in two civil wars between 1989 and 2003.
Observers emphasise the significance of sustaining peace and accepting the ultimate outcomes.
“The 2023 elections undoubtedly symbolize a vital milestone within the consolidation of peace and democracy in Liberia, and the broader area,” the UN mentioned in a press release.
Greater than 2.4 million persons are registered to vote, with polls open between 8:00 am (0800 GMT) and 6:00 pm (1800 GMT).
They’ll select between an incumbent who stays fashionable amongst younger folks however should defend a controversial file in workplace, and an outdated hand who was from 2006 to 2018 the vice chairman underneath Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first girl president.
Boakai has held a mess of positions in the private and non-private sectors, however his age is taken into account a handicap.
The electoral fee has 15 days to publish the outcomes however may achieve this sooner, one in all its officers, Samuel Cole, mentioned.
Turnout
Because the first-round outcomes, the 2 political camps have centered on securing the votes of supporters of the 18 candidates who didn’t make it by.
Edward Appleton, who got here third, has backed Boakai, as have two of the opposite high six candidates.
Turnout may be an necessary issue, mentioned Lawrence Yealue, who runs the civil society group Accountability Lab Liberia.
He expects a decrease turnout than the file 78.86 % on October 10, when the presidential vote was coupled with parliamentary elections.
Weah — who grew up within the Monrovia slums to develop into the one African to win soccer’s most prestigious particular person award, the Ballon d’Or — is extensively seen as approachable and peaceable.
He says he has supported training, constructed roads and hospitals, and introduced electrical energy into houses.
He was president when the Covid-19 pandemic hit at a time when Liberia was nonetheless recovering economically from back-to-back civil wars and the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic.
His detractors say he’s disconnected from the realities of skyrocketing costs and shortages.
Greater than a fifth of Liberians stay on lower than $2.15 a day, in keeping with the World Financial institution.
‘Misinformation’
Boakai blames Weah for corruption, which is endemic in Liberia and has worsened on the incumbent’s watch, in keeping with Transparency Worldwide.
The previous vice chairman has cast alliances with native barons, together with former warlord and senator Prince Johnson, who supported Weah six years in the past.
Clashes through the marketing campaign left a number of useless and raised fears of post-election violence.
Boakai on Sunday mentioned a convoy carrying Prince Johnson and vice presidential candidate Jeremiah Kpan Koung was attacked with firearms.
Seven folks had been reportedly injured.
Boakai’s camp additionally denounced irregularities through the first spherical.
Worldwide observers welcomed the graceful working of the first-round vote, in a area the place democracy has been shaken by a sequence of coups.
However the marketing campaign was additionally marked by disinformation.
America, an necessary associate, has warned that it may limit visas for “these believed to be liable for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Liberia, together with by the purposeful unfold of mis- or disinformation”.
(AFP)