Liberia heads for second round in presidential poll

MONROVIA – Football hero George Weah and former World Bank economist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf edged closer at the weekend to a run-off in Liberia’s presidential race with results in from more than 80 per cent of the polling stations.

Weah’s score after tallies from 2 457 of 3 070 polling stations shrank slightly to 29,8 per cent but he remained a full 10 points ahead of his rival in her bid to become Africa’s first elected female president. Preliminary tallies from the National Electoral Commission showed the front-runners widening their lead over the rest of the pack of 22 candidates.Businessman lawyer Charles Brumskine was at 12 per cent and Varney Sherman, considered the proxy for the current transitional government, was in fifth place with 8,4 per cent behind former UN special envoy to Somalia, Winston Tubman, nephew of long-running Liberian president William Tubman, at 9,1 per cent.Once a striker with AC Milan who ended his career with the Chelsea football club, Weah has caught the imagination of the mostly youthful electorate with his campaign despite his lack of formal education and political experience.But he looked increasingly unlikely to reach the absolute majority needed to avoid a second round.Liberia’s post-war presidential and legislative polls aim to close the book on a history of lawlessness and corruption after nearly two decades of civil war that have left tens of thousands of people dead and robbed the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues.Turnout was a high 74 per cent of more than 1,3 million registered voters, NEC chairwoman Frances Johnson Morris told reporters in the evening briefing.Certified results are due October 26 and a second round, if required, will be held November 8.- Nampa-AFPPreliminary tallies from the National Electoral Commission showed the front-runners widening their lead over the rest of the pack of 22 candidates.Businessman lawyer Charles Brumskine was at 12 per cent and Varney Sherman, considered the proxy for the current transitional government, was in fifth place with 8,4 per cent behind former UN special envoy to Somalia, Winston Tubman, nephew of long-running Liberian president William Tubman, at 9,1 per cent.Once a striker with AC Milan who ended his career with the Chelsea football club, Weah has caught the imagination of the mostly youthful electorate with his campaign despite his lack of formal education and political experience.But he looked increasingly unlikely to reach the absolute majority needed to avoid a second round.Liberia’s post-war presidential and legislative polls aim to close the book on a history of lawlessness and corruption after nearly two decades of civil war that have left tens of thousands of people dead and robbed the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues.Turnout was a high 74 per cent of more than 1,3 million registered voters, NEC chairwoman Frances Johnson Morris told reporters in the evening briefing.Certified results are due October 26 and a second round, if required, will be held November 8.- Nampa-AFP