Voting cards not guns, the new weapon of choice

For years, the gun was the symbol of power in Liberia. Now it’s the voting card. Liberians head to the polls on Tuesday to pick their first president since the end of a long debilitating civil war, and there is talk of little else on the potholed streets of the capital, Monrovia. “It’s our chance to turn the page, to say no to war and yes to a future,” said 32-year-old Jose Browne, who earns a living lugging jerry cans of water around the run-down ocean-side city. George and Ellen are the names on everyone’s lips and both would make history if they won. Football millionaire George Weah -- whose tens of thousands of supporters brought parts of the capital to a standstill this weekend -- would be the first African to swap the soccer stadium for the presidential palace. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated grandmother, respected economist and veteran opposition leader, would be the continent’s first elected female head of state. There is no solid data predicting the outcome of Tuesday’s ballot, but the consensus among diplomats and election-watchers is that these two are the front-runners in the 22-strong race for the presidency. At political rallies in the closing days of the campaign, only Sirleaf came close to mobilising the numbers that turned out for Weah. Both were streets ahead of other candidates jostling for the top job, who include corporate lawyers, one-time ministers and former leaders of rebel factions. Some observers say the two favourites reflect the twin faces of modern Africa. Sirleaf is the poster-girl for the educated political establishment; Weah the unifying force for the legions of youth, who make up more than half of the electorate in Liberia. Aside from the president, voters on Tuesday will also be choosing 30 senators and 64 representatives for the lower house of parliament, as local police units and UN peacekeepers stand guard to ensure a violence-free poll. Mud and rain no obstacle More than 1.35 million voters are expected to turn out at some 3,000 polling stations. Roughly 10 percent of these are designated “inaccessible” by the United Nations because they are at least two days walk from the nearest road. Liberia’s 14-year civil war, which ended just over two years ago, totally wrecked the nation’s infrastructure, reducing roads, bridges and buildings to rubble. Where no suitable structure has been left standing, election officials have set up polling stations in temporary huts and in some cases even tents, so that people can cast their votes. Ballot papers have been dispatched by boat and helicopter. However officials are confident of a high turn-out in spite of these logistical challenges. “We have inaccessible areas… but human beings can still walk there,” Frances Johnson-Morris, the head of Liberia’s electoral commission, told reporters. “There is such enthusiasm on the part of the electorate, I do not think bad roads or even heavy rain will stop them.”

The crowds turn out for soccer star George Weah at his final campaign rally

More than 400 international election observers, including former US president Jimmy Carter, are in town for the poll, which is supposed to cement peace in one of a number of troubled West African nations. “We have had enough bloodshed in this country,” said Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former Nigerian military ruler and lead mediator in Liberia’s peace process. “People now have to go out and vote for the candidate… who they think can bring the country back to normalcy.” Results have to be published by 26 October, and if no presidential candidate gets an outright majority, a second round run-off between the top two is scheduled to be held on 8 November. But while election fever engulfs the country, with truckloads of supporters cruising the city playfully bantering with each other, experts warn that the ballot is not the endgame and the population has to be prepared for the long haul. “Important as the election is, it’s only one step in a longer process,” Alan Doss, head of the UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL) said in an interview. “Rebuilding the country… is a huge challenge.” [Profiles of the presidential hopefuls] [Chronology of Liberia’s transition from war to peace]