Liberians vote for president
2005-10-11 14:36
Monrovia - Liberians were on Tuesday to vote for a hoped-for future of prosperity and peace at presidential and legislative elections, turning the page on a legacy of lawlessness and corruption that has plagued the West African country for more than a generation.
About 1.35 million people were registered to vote for the war-torn country's historic elections, mandated by a peace agreement signed by three warring factions in August 2003, which aim to close the book on Liberia's legacy of misrule and conflict, which has robbed the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands of lives lost in war.
Voters have 22 candidates to choose from, including a football hero, a one-time World Bank executive and a host of warlords and businessmen, each of them promising to be the one to rebuild the war-torn country and lift it from grinding poverty.
Africa's first female president?
Liberia has enrolled 50 more women than men to vote in the polls - which could favour World Bank economist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is gunning to be Africa's first female president.
But footballing hero George Weah, Fifa's player of the year in 1995, is strongly favoured by the youth who make up roughly half of the electorate, who see no disadvantage in his lack of formal education or political experience and point only to his generosity and unstinting support of the country even during wartime. More than 100 000 youth marched on Saturday in support of Weah.
Logisitical challenges
In a country with only 200km of paved road, bringing two million ballots and ballot boxes to more than 3 000 polling places has proved a logistical challenge for election organisers and the United Nations mission (Unmil) assuring security with 15 000 peacekeepers.
"Porters guided by United Nations forces have already carried ballots to the hard to access and the non-accessible areas," said National Electoral Committee (NEC) spokesperson Bobby Livingston.
The price tag for the campaign has hit $50m, with most of the costs borne by Unmil and the United States, which has sent a senior-level delegation led by US assistant secretary of state Jendayi Frazer to observe the vote in the country settled in 1847 by freed American slaves.
No violence
UN special envoy Alan Doss has warned of a "robust" response to anyone resorting to violence to upset the polls.
He also expressed confidence that, after a relatively peaceful electoral campaign, "there will be enough of a presence to discourage any efforts to disrupt the election".
Key security considerations may include agitation by the more than 200 000 internally displaced people who have yet to return to their home counties, some of whom have warned of violence should they be unable to vote.
Certified results are due on October 25 and if no one candidate earns an absolute majority of 50% plus one - as is expected - a run-off vote is planned for November 8.