Liberians choose their president

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

In the aftermath of a 14-year long civil war, Liberians are holding elections for their first post-war president. Of the two final candidates — Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and George Weah — Mr Weah had a higher percentage of the vote in elections held on October 11 this year. A secondary election was held recently, but the final winner has not been chosen.

Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, 66-year-old former economist of the World Bank and Harvard University graduate, the so called "Iron Lady", is very popular along educated people and women. Her supporters consider her to be the better candidate due to her economics background. She was the runner-up in the October 11 elections, receiving about 20% of votes. Opponents point to the fact she'd be the first woman leader ever in Africa, and that she does not have the support of the rebel warlords.

Mr. Weah, 39-year-old well-known football player and former star of AC Milan, is said to be a successful man. His supporters, who call him "King George", are generally made up of young men - many of them war veterans. But his opponents say that he is an inexperienced leader, without political skills. He won the voting on October 11, 2005, receiving 28% of votes.

on November 28 we will know who won

According to United Nations peacekeepers only a single incident of violence was reported during the elections. The elections results are expected in about 2 weeks.

Sources

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

Liberian elections, 2005

"Liberians choose post-war leader" — BBC News, November 8, 2005
Historic leadership runoff in Liberia <broken link> [archived version] — CNN, November 8, 2005

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