News
Liberia votes: Incumbent only slightly ahead, 2nd round likely
Johnson had clinched more than 30,000 votes, according to the results tabulated by the Liberia Media Center, representing nearly 11 percent.
Sirleaf, who is Africa’s first democratically elected female leader, needs to get more than 50 percent of total votes in order to avoid a runoff against Weah, a former FIFA World Player of the Year who is running as the vice president on a ticket with technocrat Winston Tubman. Most observers are expecting the race to go to a second round.
International and local election observers said the election on Tuesday was peaceful, and there were no major breaches in voting and no serious incidences of violence.
Liberia is recovering from a horrific 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, and Sirleaf shared last week’s Nobel Peace prize for her nonviolent struggle on behalf of women and for helping maintain peace in Liberia since she took office nearly six years ago.
“Overall, the process unfolded in a quiet atmosphere with no incidents reported thus far,” the Chairman of the National Elections Commission James Fromoyan told a news conference late Tuesday. “The day was peaceful and calm.”
In a statement released in New York, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the election “an important milestone” and described the voting as “smooth.”
His observations were echoed by the head of the 150-member Economic Community of West Africa delegation, Attahiru Jega.
“From the reports that we have received,” he told reporters. “The election has been peaceful and has been conducted in an orderly manner.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
