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Liberians have voted on their future president
Is linked to several corruption scandals: former world footballer George Weah. photo
© Christophe Ena/AP/dpa
In a runoff election, challenger Joseph Boakai is challenging incumbent and former soccer star George Weah. The voter turnout is probably lower than in the first round.
The citizens of Liberia, West Africa, are in one Runoff election voted on their future president. The incumbent and former world footballer George Weah and challenger Joseph Boakai, who was vice president under Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf from 2006 to 2018, were up for election on Tuesday.
The results are not expected for a few days at the earliest. Weah won the first round of elections on October 10 with a razor-thin majority of 43.83 percent, ahead of Boakai with 43.44 percent.
According to impressions from the capital Monrovia and other districts, voter turnout in the runoff election was lower than in the first round, in which 20 candidates took part and parliament was also elected. Observers also attributed this to the fact that parliamentary candidates in particular often use financial incentives to bring voters to other regions to vote. This is not possible in the runoff election. Newly elected lawmaker and political analyst Taa Wongbe suggested that the outcome of the runoff election would depend on voter turnout in the candidates’ strongholds.
Both candidates promise jobs and investments in the infrastructure of the heavily indebted country. There was already a runoff election in 2017 between Weah from the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Boakai from the Party for Unity (UP). Weah won with 61.5 percent to 38.5 percent and is now hoping for a second term in office.
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world
The reign of the former football star, who played for top clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea FC, has been linked to several corruption scandals. Nevertheless, Weah was able to win over several important supporters after the first round of voting, including his once biggest critic Henry Costa, who organized anti-government protests in 2020.
Despite its rich natural resources, the coastal state on the Atlantic is one of the poorest countries in the world. In addition to economic problems, many Liberians are particularly concerned about corruption and the slow process of coming to terms with the crimes of the civil war. Between 1989 and 2003 around 250,000 people were killed. Most war criminals went unpunished.