Liberia's Presidential Election Nears Run-Off Decision
Liberia's presidential election heads to a run-off vote as President George Weah and opposition leader Joseph Boakai fall short of the required votes The election commission sets November for the decisive contest
The Liberian electoral commission has announced that a presidential election run-off has been set for November due to the insufficient votes obtained by the two leading candidates, President George Weah and opposition leader Joseph Boakai. Weah currently holds a slight advantage with 43.83% of the vote, while Boakai has garnered 43.44%, as confirmed by the election commission of the West African nation, based on the tallied results from all polling locations.
Commission chairperson Davidetta Browne Lansanah announced that the run-off vote is scheduled to take place on November 14. She highlighted that there was an impressive participation rate of 78.86%, with approximately 2.4 million registered voters casting their ballots.
The elections in Liberia are viewed as a closely contested competition between former Vice President Joseph Boakai, representing the main opposition Unity Party, and incumbent President George Weah, who is from the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). As tensions rise, Liberians are heading to the polls with significant stakes at play.
The October 10th election is widely regarded as a crucial gauge of support for Weah, a former soccer star aged 57. In his first term, he faced criticism from the opposition and Liberia's international allies for his perceived lack of effort in combatting corruption. Throughout his campaign, he appealed to voters for additional time to fulfill his commitment of reviving the nation's faltering economy, bolstering institutions, and improving infrastructure. He promised to prioritize road construction if granted another term.
Liberia is currently grappling with the aftermath of two civil wars that resulted in the death of over 250,000 individuals from 1989 to 2003, as well as a devastating Ebola epidemic between 2013 and 2016 that claimed the lives of thousands.
Boakai, who is 78 years old, emerged as Weah's primary competitor and based his campaign on the notion of rescuing Liberia from what he deemed as mismanagement under Weah's administration.
