Dakar, Oct. 25, (dpa/GNA) - The West African country of Liberia is poised for a run-off election between president and former world footballer George Weah and his challenger Joseph Boakai.
On Tuesday after all votes had been counted the incumbent Weah had 43.83% of the vote, a thin majority over his rival Boakai with 43.44%, according to the electoral commission in Monrovia.
As no candidate received an absolute majority, a run-off between the two candidates has been scheduled for November 14.
The Election Commission said voter turnout was at a record high of almost 79% of the more than 2.4 million registered voters. Twenty candidates had run in the election on October 10.
According to the Electoral Commission, around 10,000 national and international election observers were on duty. Nine election workers had been detained by the police after they were accused of violating the rules during the count.
The election in 2017 also saw Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Boakai of the Party for Unity (UP) go into a run-off.
At the time, Boakai entered the race as vice-president to outgoing president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Weah won – and is now hoping for a second term.
However, the government of the former football star, who played for top clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Milan and Chelsea, has been linked to several corruption scandals.
Despite its rich mineral resources, the country on the Atlantic coast is one of the poorest in the world. In addition to economic problems, many Liberians are concerned about corruption and the slow process of coming to terms with the crimes committed during the country’s civil war.
Between 1989 and 2003, around 250,000 people were killed. Most of the war criminals went unpunished.
GNA