Liberia’s President Concedes Election Defeat in a Knife-Edge Vote

Liberia’s president, George Weah, conceded defeat on Friday night time in his bid for a second time period, after a decent runoff towards Joseph Boakai, a 78-year-old political veteran, in an election that was thought of a check of democracy within the West African nation.

Mr. Boakai, who had served as vp for 12 years below the previous president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, defeated Mr. Weah, a 57-year-old former soccer star, by a razor-thin margin.

The nation’s nationwide election fee stopped in need of declaring a winner on Friday afternoon, however introduced that with greater than 99 % of the ballots counted, Mr. Boakai held 50.89 % of the votes, and Mr. Weah 49.11 %. It was the nation’s tightest election in twenty years, and a rematch of the election in 2017, when Mr. Weah handily beat Mr. Boakai.

Mr. Weah stated in a radio handle broadcast late on Friday night that whereas his celebration had misplaced the election, “Liberia has gained.”

“This can be a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to position our nation above celebration, and patriotism above private curiosity,” he stated.

His phrases marked a notably peaceable transition of energy at a time when many different West African nations have endured a spate of coups, getting old leaders clinging to energy and elections tormented by allegations of vote rigging.

In Nigeria and in Sierra Leone, impartial observers have forged doubt on the outcomes of presidential contests this yr. In Niger and Guinea, juntas rule regardless of worldwide efforts to revive civilian governments.

That is the primary time because the early 1900s that an incumbent president of Liberia has not been re-elected after serving one time period. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for January.

The election, first held on Oct. 10 with the runoff on Tuesday, was the primary one managed solely by Liberian authorities with out worldwide funding or help because the nation emerged in 2003 from a ruinous civil warfare.

Mr. Boakai plans to talk publicly on Saturday, his spokesman stated. The candidate instructed Reuters on Friday night time, “In the beginning, we wish to have a message of peace and reconciliation.”

The presidential marketing campaign hinged on accusations that Mr. Weah tolerated corruption in authorities circles and didn’t ship jobs and improvement, regardless of the nation’s financial rebound after the pandemic.

One voter within the capital, Monrovia, stated that he had forged a poll for Mr. Boakai due to his promise to crack down on drug abuse and corruption.

“It’s unthinkable that you’d see younger folks getting hooked on medicine, and the president doesn’t have any concept find out how to sort out it,” stated the voter, MacPherson Darweh, who’s 45.

Mr. Weah “doesn’t have a way of belonging and doesn’t even understand how the nation has been ruled and run,” Mr. Darweh stated. “He nonetheless thinks he’s a soccer participant working round city.”

Liberia, a rustic of 5.5 million folks, declared independence within the nineteenth century — a century forward of most African nations — with a democratic political system that was modeled on that of america.

However the nation was racked by civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that left about 250,000 folks useless.

The Ebola epidemic between 2013 and 2016 additionally killed hundreds, leaving the nation in a precarious state and prompting the United Nations to take over group of the nation’s elections — till this yr.

Liberia’s financial system grew by 4.8 % in 2022, in line with the World Financial institution, primarily pushed by mining and a comparatively good agricultural harvest. However greater than 80 % of the inhabitants is meals insecure, the World Financial institution stated in July, and costs of fundamental meals merchandise and gasoline have skyrocketed over the previous yr, with over half of Liberians dwelling under the poverty line, on $1.90 a day.

A crew of observers from the Financial Neighborhood of West African States on Wednesday congratulated Liberians for “the widely peaceable conduct of the elections to date.” The European Union stated in an announcement that Tuesday’s runoff was “calm” and “effectively organized,” and there have been “organizational enhancements” in comparison with the primary spherical.

Law enforcement officials in riot gear patrolled the streets of Monrovia, the Liberian capital, because the vote proceeded, whereas polling employees counted ballots late into the night time by lamps and flashlights due to energy cuts, which have develop into frequent within the nation.

Mr. Weah and Mr. Boakai had completed nearly neck and neck within the first spherical of the election, with neither passing the 50 % threshold required to be declared the outright winner. Mr. Weah had a slim lead, by simply over 7,000 votes.

Mr. Boakai, a political veteran in Liberia, served as agriculture minister within the Nineteen Eighties, and director of the state-owned Liberian Petroleum Refinery in 1992, when the civil warfare raged. Though he was not implicated in any corruption scandals, as vp he was accused by his critics of turning a blind eye to corruption within the authorities.

On this yr’s election, he appeared to achieve traction by portraying himself as a protected pair of arms to steer the nation in a brand new route. He targeted on grievances with Mr. Weah’s rule, criticizing his opponent for his lavish life-style and for being out of contact with Liberian society.

However Mr. Boakai’s opponents targeted on his being practically 80 years outdated, and nicknamed him “Sleepy Joe,” accusing him of napping throughout a public occasion.

The election was a rerun of the vote in 2017, when Mr. Weah defeated Mr. Boakai by a comparatively giant margin, capitalizing on his standing as a sports activities celebrity and political outsider who claimed he may higher the lives of peculiar Liberians.

Final time round, Mr. Weah’s story of ascent to the head of world soccer after rising up in a Liberian slum had resonated with younger folks in a nation the place 60 % of the inhabitants is below 25.

However his picture as an advocate for the poor cracked below the load of graft scandals, a failure to take care of the drug disaster and hovering dwelling prices. Underneath his authorities, Liberia has fallen 20 locations on a corruption index compiled by Transparency Worldwide, rating 142nd final yr out of 180 nations.

Final yr, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on three Liberian officers, together with Mr. Weah’s chief of employees, Nathaniel McGill. An investigation promised by Mr. Weah has but to materialize.