Liberian Challenger Close To Election Victory Over President Weah

Monrovia, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 18th Nov, 2023) Political veteran Joseph Boakai was on Friday close to victory in Liberia‘s presidential race against incumbent George Weah, with more than 99 percent of polling stations reporting.

Former vice president Boakai had garnered 50.89 percent of votes cast, with Weah on 49.11 percent with more than 99.5 percent of the polling stations tallied following Tuesday’s second-round presidential poll, said electoral commission head Davidetta Browne Lansanah.

The results have been frozen at a large proportion of the 25 remaining polling stations, due to an abnormal turnout or a number of votes exceeding the number of registered voters, she said.

But political expert Abdullah Kiatamba said it looked almost impossible for former football great Weah to make up the gap.

“The reality at this moment is that given the numbers it is literally impossible to reverse the gain,” he told AFP.

“To do so it means the CDC (Weah’s party) will need to win numbers that are four or five times the current trend,” added Kiatamba.

Thomas Kaydor, a political sciences lecturer at the University of Liberia, agreed.

“Even if you add up all the votes from the 25 remaining polling stations, George Weah cannot win,” he said.

According to Friday’s figure, Boakai was 28,000 votes ahead of Weah.

Just over 1.6 million ballots have been counted. Around 2.4 million Liberians were eligible to vote on Tuesday, but no turnout figures have been released.