Tuesday’s run-off election pitted President George Weah against former vice president Joseph Boakai against each other was anticipated to be fiercely contested.
Weah, 57, a former soccer star who came to power in 2018, only had 7,000 more votes than Boakai, a career politician, in the October poll, and he fell short of the 50% threshold required to win handily.
Weah’s first term, marred by fraud scandals and ongoing poverty in Africa’s oldest independent nation, left many voters feeling unimpressed.
“I am voting because I need peace, more development,” said Future Barbour, a mother of four who was selling rice outside a polling station in the capital Monrovia. “My children are not going to school because I have no job.”
In order to fulfil his pledges made during his first term to eradicate corruption and enhance living standards, Weah has urged voters for an extension. This West African nation is currently dealing with the aftermath of two civil wars (1989–2003) and the thousands-deadly Ebola outbreak (2013–16).
Boakai, 78, who lost to Weah in the 2017 election, has focused his campaign on the necessity of saving the country from what he perceives to be Weah’s mishandling of the country’s finances.
Although lines formed early on Tuesday at polling places throughout Monrovia, according to a Reuters correspondent, voting seemed to be less widespread than it was in the first round, when 79% of the approximately 2.4 million registered voters cast ballots, setting a record.
Boakai said on Tuesday that it was normal for the runoff to have a lower turnout, but said that Weah’s party was “panicking” and trying to stop ballots being cast, without providing details.
“We are very vigilant. We have people checking on all those things,” he told reporters.
Boakai and Weah have both gotten the support of contenders who were eliminated in the first round. The voting preferences of the 6% of voters whose votes were deemed invalid in the first round remain a significant unknown.
Despite being largely quiet, there were two fatalities during the election period due to fighting between opposing factions. Voting in certain rural regions was delayed due to logistical issues.
Unrest could be stoked by any purported anomalies in the second round, but as of Tuesday morning, there had been no reports of issues.
“I am happy that the place is calm, everybody is voting, there is no tension. This is democracy,” Weah told reporters after casting his ballot in the capital.
“I am confident of winning.”
“A BETTER LIBERIA”
The vote is essentially a popularity test for Weah. Inspired by his ascent from a Monrovia slum to worldwide soccer glory, he enjoys cult-like support in many quarters despite his inability to eradicate corruption or alleviate widespread poverty.
Driven by gold output and a comparatively excellent harvest, the economy gained 4.8% in 2022; nonetheless, the World Bank reported in July that over 80% of the population still experiences moderate to severe food insecurity.
After the United States sanctioned him and two other senior officials for graft last year, he sacked his chief of staff.
Many want change.
“I am voting for my children’s future… to have a free country where there will be no armed robbery, where children can move freely,” said Samuel Carr, who voted in Monrovia.
“I want to see a better Liberia.”
