Vote counting from Liberia’s presidential runoff is underway, with opposition chief Joseph Boakai holding a slight lead over incumbent George Weah.
Early outcomes from about one-fifth of Liberia’s polling stations confirmed Boakai successful just below 51% of the vote, with Weah shut behind at barely over 49%.
The 2 candidates entered a runoff after each did not safe greater than half of the vote within the first spherical of voting.
Over 2.4 million individuals solid their ballots final month within the first spherical of voting, which gave 57-year-old Weah a slight lead over his political rival Boakai, 78.
Weah, a soccer legend, has appealed to youthful voters however has needed to defend his document from his time as president. He defeated the previous vice chairman, Boakai, within the 2017 election, successful greater than 61% of the vote.
The electoral fee has to publish the outcomes of the election throughout the subsequent 15 days.
Nationwide and international observers have stated that the election has been held pretty and peacefully, citing only some minor incidents, regardless of fears over the protection and openness of the election.
The Financial Group of West African States despatched observers who stated that there was “typically peaceable conduct of the elections up to now,” though they voiced a “deep concern over provocative statements and alleged deliberate conferences by political actors to prematurely declare victory.”
They didn’t specify which candidate was planning to do that.
There have been fears of post-election violence, following clashes that left a number of individuals lifeless whereas the candidates had been on the marketing campaign path.
That is the primary election to have been held for the reason that United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in Liberia in 2018.
Two civil wars in Liberia, operating from 1989 to 2003, left greater than 250,000 individuals lifeless.
Some data on this report was taken from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.