Liberia: Run-off vote planned

2005-10-18 15:20

Monrovia - The head of Liberia's National Election Commission (NEC) had confirmed that a run-off election is to be held between presidential candidates Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and former international soccer great George Weah, press reports said on Tuesday.

"The commission has begun preparations for a run-off to be held on the second Tuesday in November," said Frances Johnson-Morris on Monday.

Just five 5% of the votes in the presidential polls, held on October 11, are yet to be tallied, Johnson-Morris said.

Support for Weah, the head of the Congress for Democratic Change and a former World Soccer Player of the Year, has dropped from 30% to 28.8%, according to latest reports.

First runner-up Johnson-Sirleaf of the Unity party made a slight gain to reach 20% of total votes cast.

Concern over death threat

Johnson-Morris also said she had received a death threat.

"I received an SMS text message on my cellphone threatening me that I will be killed if I cheat in the on-going tallying process," said an apparently concerned Johnson-Morris.

"You can't take such threats lightly," she added, saying the commission had instituted an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the former chairperson of the disbanded rebel Lurd movement, who forced former president Charles Taylor into exile in August 2003, says he will accept the results of the October 11 polls.

Sekou Damate Conneh, who said he took up arms to oust Taylor and restore democracy to Liberia, said the process was "free and fair" and saw no reason to dispute the results.

Sekou Conneh is also a presidential candidate on the ticket of the Prodem party but is trailing with only 0.6% of votes cast.

He urged other candidates to accept the results without reservation. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA