Liberia’s Weah to face 19 rivals in October vote amid public ire

Bloomberg | Liberian President George Weah will face over a dozen opponents when the country votes in a October 10 general election amid mounting anger over corruption and soaring food prices.

The National Elections Commission (NEC), which runs the process in the west African nation of 5.4 million people, announced the names of 20 presidential candidates on Sunday, including Weah.

The 56-year old former AC Milan football star seeks a second 6-year term in what will be the iron ore and rubber exporter’s fourth democratic elections since civil war ended in 2003.

Weah’s main challenger is likely to be former Vice President Joseph Boakai, who he comfortably defeated in a runoff vote in 2017.

Boakai, 78, served as former President Johnson Sirleaf’s deputy between 2006 and 2018. He is seeking to capitalize on public ire over rising food and fuel costs, as well as a corruption scandal connected with Weah’s administration.

Weah will run on the ticket of the Coalition for Democratic Change while Boakai represents the Unity Party.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed Liberian inflation to an average 11.3 percent in the second quarter from 7.3 percent in the previous 3 months, according to the central bank.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts economic growth to slow to 4.3 percent this year from 4.8 percent in 2022.

Alexander Cummings, a businessman and former Coca-Cola executive who is leading the Collaborating Political Parties, is seen as another contender in the race.

Cummings finished fifth in the 2017 contest, behind the Liberty Party’s Charles Brumskine and ex-warlord Prince Johnson of the National Union for Democratic Progress.

Johnson is not standing in October. Brumskine died in November 2019.

The NEC also certified over 800 candidates who will compete for the 73 seats in the House of Representatives and 100 persons vying for 15 Senate seats. About 2.5 million Liberians have registered to cast ballots in October, according to the electoral agency.