Liberians vote to elect their future president | AIB

2023-10-10 15:33:01

LIBERIA-PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTIONS-VOTE,PREV

Liberians vote to elect their future president

By Adrien MAROTTE

MONROVIA, October 10, 2023 – Liberians vote on Tuesday to choose their future president, the outgoing George Weah, former world football star, starting favorite against 19 competitors.

More than 2.4 million voters are called to the polls in this small English-speaking country in West Africa which dreams of development and peace after years marked by wars and epidemics. In addition to their president, they must also choose their 73 representatives and 15 senators.

Hundreds of people crowded under the sun in front of the polling stations in Monrovia, mainly installed in schools, from 7:00 a.m. (local and GMT), an hour before the opening, noted AFP journalists.

“It is my constitutional duty to vote, for the future of my children, my grandchildren. I hope that the next president will be the most competent for our country,” said Augustus Okai, 54, first to vote in his office.

“I am so happy to vote. We pray that the president stays in power for six more years,” enthused Sundaymar J. Jaycon, a 36-year-old professor.

By mid-morning, when the lines of voters were not diminishing, President Weah voted in his polling station in Paynesville, in the suburbs of the capital.

“I am confident because I have worked a lot and people have confidence in me. I hope to win in the first round,” he told AFP after placing his ballot in the ballot box.

A second round between the two best candidates is planned for early November unless one candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first.

For the moment, “everything is going really well. The vote is taking place in a climate of calm, discipline, peace and atmosphere,” declared Jean Marie Ngondjibangangte, a Cameroonian observer.

Polling stations are open until 6:00 p.m. GMT. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) will start making results public from Wednesday as counting progresses and will communicate the final results within 15 days.

– Observers –

This election is the first organized without the presence of the United Nations mission in Liberia, created in 2003 to guarantee peace after the civil wars which left more than 250,000 dead between 1989 and 2003 and whose memory remains vivid.

Clashes between the ruling party and opponents during the campaign left three people dead in the northwest. New clashes left at least several people injured during the final parade of Mr. Weah’s campaign on Sunday in Monrovia, raising fears of post-election violence.

The European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the United States have deployed observers in a region where democracy is being called into question by the multiplication of coups d’état.

Weah, elected for the first time in 2017, enjoys great popularity among young people. He retains his aura as a former football star. The only African Golden Ball to date, absent from the country during the war, also bears the image of a peaceful man.

On Sunday, he gathered a huge crowd in Monrovia, more than any of his other competitors. “He kept the peace, built roads, paid school fees. He’s a great leader,” said Theresa Sneh, 48 years old.

The former star striker is by far the candidate who had the most visibility during the campaign. His portrait in Monrovia is everywhere, marked with the slogan “Victory in one turn”.

He promises to build new roads, create jobs and continue the “war” against corruption in his second term.

– “Young people are suffering” –

In his “keke”, a small yellow motorized tricycle that transports passengers, Joseph Kamara, 24, believes that George Weah has done nothing for him. “Young people are suffering. They take drugs,” he says. While he voted for Weah in 2017, he will vote for Joseph Boakai, his main opponent.

At 78, the former vice-president (2006-2018) wants his revenge on Mr. Weah, against whom he lost in the second round in 2017.

He has forged alliances with local barons, including former warlord and senator Prince Johnson, who supported Mr. Weah six years ago and remains influential in the key northern province of Nimba.

Boakai promises to restore the country’s image, develop infrastructure and improve the lives of the most deprived. He highlights his integrity, accusing Mr. Weah of serving a corrupt system. Five senior Liberian officials have been sanctioned by Washington in three years.

Philanthropist and former Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings and human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe also dream of a second round, likely according to political experts. It would take place in early November.

With AFP