ISN SECURITY WATCH (09/11/05) -
Liberians have voted for the second time in less than a month in a presidential
runoff poll, with former AC Milan soccer star George Weah and former finance
minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the two contenders, both confident of victory.
Weah, affectionately known as "King
George", and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, dubbed the
"Iron Lady", remained confident after intense campaigning.
Whatever the outcome of Tuesday's poll, Liberia will make history for having chosen either a soccer player or the first woman in Africa as its leader. At the same time, voters are hoping the election will finally bring closure to the West African nation's 14-year civil war.
However, initial estimates have reported a lower turnout than in the first round, when just over 1 million Liberians went to the polls.
Weah secured 28.3 per cent in the first round on 11 October. The second time around, he was hoping to have done enough to secure his place in office in the country's capital Monrovia.
"I won the first round, and I'm hoping and praying that I win again," he told reporters after casting his ballot on Tuesday morning.
Mayango Arku, a spokesman for Weah's Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) confirmed that the voter turnout had been lower than expected.
"We've got information that the turnout is low, we don't have any exact figures yet. A lot of people are disappointed," he told ISN Security Watch on Tuesday.
However, Arku believes the poor turnout should not hamper Weah's path to the presidency. "I think it is in our advantage, because if you saw in the first round we had close to 30 per cent of the votes," he said. "It won't make any big difference, because we had close to 100,000 more votes" than Ellen Johnson.
Arku told ISN Security Watch that voters loyal to the CDC party will have turned out in sufficient numbers for the run-off and remained confident that Johnson was not able to pull in enough votes to win an overall majority.
"Ellen Johnson cannot pull in a lot of votes because we have the support of Winston Tubmen [National Democratic Party of Liberia] and Varney Sherman [Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia]; they have both endorsed the CDC, so we are talking about close to 200,000 votes, so things are looking good for George Weah. We will just have to wait and see. I don't want to speculate right now," he said.
Sirleaf conceded the poor turnout was not totally unexpected. "Liberians are not accustomed to run-offs. This is the first one in their history, and people are saying 'We voted once, but we have to do it again?'," she told reporters, adding that whatever the outcome, she would abide by the people's choice.
"I will accept the results. That's the political game and that is what it is. I have no reason to think otherwise. Those results will reflect the views of the Liberian people."
The CDC's Arku echoed the Harvard-educated candidate, saying: "We will have to wait and see if there are any irregularities. It's too early to say, but anything can happen."
Coalition not impossible
ISN Security Watch also learned that a possible coalition government could be acceptable and had already been discussed at the highest levels.
"If there needs to be a coalition, then why not? Right now, what is important for Liberia is the reunification of our country. We need a government of inclusion," Arku said.
"We need Ellen Johnson, You saw in the first round she had a lot of supporters and the country needs to get back on its feet. We are not leaving her out."
Election officials started counting votes at the country's 3,070 polling stations as soon as the polls closed. But the final result is not expected for some days, and some diplomats have called for calm after a tense end to campaigning.
In a statement made after visiting polling stations in Buchanan and Gbarnga and across Monrovia, the UN's Alan Doss said the process had been free of disruption or violence.
"Today's run-off election offers the people of Liberia the opportunity to leave behind the war that has wrecked this country for so long and to enter into a future of peace and stability," said Doss, the UN Secretary-General's special representative for Liberia.
Liberia was founded in 1847 by freed US slaves. Resentment with the ruling American-Liberian elite eventually boiled over into coups and conflict.