In presidential runoff in Liberia, former professional football player George Weah prevailed. According to Electoral Commission, Weah came to 61.5 percent after counting almost all votes. His counterparts, Vice-President Joseph Boakai of ruling Unity Party (up), accounted for 38.5 percent. About 2.1 million people had been called to runoff.
if ( typeof AdController !== ‘undefined’ !window.Zeit.isMobileView()) { if ( !document.getElementById( ‘iqadtile8’ ) ) { var elem = document.createElement( ‘div’ ); elem.id = ‘iqadtile8’; elem.className = “ad ad-desktop ad-desktop–8 ad-desktop–8-on-article”; elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-type’, ‘desktop’); elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-label’, ‘Anzeige’); document.getElementById(‘ad-desktop-8’).parentNode.appendChild(elem); AdController.render(‘iqadtile8’); if ( window.console typeof window.console.info === ‘function’ ) { window.console.info(‘AdController ‘ AdController.VERSION ‘ tile 8 desktop’) } } } if ( typeof AdController !== ‘undefined’ window.Zeit.isMobileView()) { if ( !document.getElementById( ‘iqadtile3’ ) ) { var elem = document.createElement( ‘div’ ); elem.id = ‘iqadtile3’; elem.className = “ad ad-mobile ad-mobile–3 ad-mobile–3-on-article”; elem.setAttribute(‘data-banner-type’, ‘mobile’); document.getElementById(‘ad-mobile-3’).parentNode.appendChild(elem); AdController.render(‘iqadtile3’); if ( window.console typeof window.console.info === ‘function’ ) { window.console.info(‘AdController ‘ AdController.VERSION ‘ tile 3 mobile’) } } }
In first round in October, former world footballer Weah, who played at Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan in 1990s, was around nine percent ahead of Boakai. The up had appealed against ballot because of irregularities. But lawsuits were dismissed. Due to legal disputes, runoff, which was originally planned for 7th of November, was postponed to December 26th.
The 51-year-old Weah had already applied for presidency in vain 2005 and 2011 in vain for post of Vice president. Since 2014, former striker is senator. He gets a great deal of encouragement from young voters in particular. The 73-year-old vice President Boakai was considered a candidate for continuity.
The President elected for six years will succeed long-time head of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on 22 January, who was not allowed to run for a third term. The war-torn land in western Africa is one of poorest countries in world. The serious Ebola epidemic between 2014 and 2016 has also burdened economy.
