Soccer legend George Weah looks set to go head-to-head with former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in a run-off to decide who will be the next president of war-battered Liberia, according to preliminary results released on Monday. With returns in from 95 percent of polling stations across the heavily forested country, Weah was in the lead with 28.8 percent of the votes and Sirleaf was trailing in second with 20.0 percent. A candidate must get 50 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner of Liberia's first presidential elections since the end of a 14-year civil war. "Looking at the numbers above... the NEC sees it prudent to begin preparations for a presidential election run-off," Frances Johnson-Morris, the head of the National Elections Commission, told reporters on Monday evening. "The run-off election will be held on November 8," she added. Almost a week after Liberians went to the polls, radios are still constantly tuned to news bulletins and residents hang around on street corners animatedly discussing the latest twists and turns and moaning about how slowly the results are coming in. Johnson-Morris said death threats had been sent by text message to her mobile phone, warning she would be killed if she did not "release the results well." Meanwhile, the political jockeying has already begun ahead of the November run-off. "We are preparing for the second round," Rudolph Johnson, Weah's running mate, told IRIN on Monday. Both camps are trying to win endorsements from some of the other 20 hopefuls who contested last Tuesday's first-round ballot. Top of the list will be former Senate leader Charles Brumskine, who is currently on 13.9 percent, and Winston Tubman, a onetime UN special envoy, who has so far captured 9.4 percent of the votes. Behind-the-scenes wrangling "We are talking to almost everyone. The message we are carrying is what's good for Liberia," said Sirleaf's campaign manager, John Bestman, in between meetings. "We are confident."
Frances Johnson-Morris, head of Liberia's National Elections Commission, briefs reporters |
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