Liberia:Incumbent Liberian president leads in presidential race + Related News

Laaska News Oct. 15,2011

MONROVIA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has maintained her lead in the presidential race, according to provisional results announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC) Friday.

According to the results released by NEC Chairman James M. Fromoyan, Unity Party’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf obtained 265,883 or 44.5 percent of the votes tallied so far, while her main rival Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) received 172,681 representing 29.5 percent of the total number of votes tallied so far.

Former Warlord, now Senator Prince Y. Johnson of the National Union for Democratic Progress has maintained his third position with 66,419 votes, representing 11.4 percent, while Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party polled 38,069 votes representing or 6.5 percent of the total votes counted and collated so far.

The figures were tallied from 2,242 of the 4,457 polling places in the country, representing a little over 50 percent of the total number of votes counted and collated so far.

According to Chairman Fromoyan, voter turn-out remains at 70.2 percent.

He added that of the 629,627 counted so far, the total number of valid votes are 585,179, while invalid votes are 44,498.

Fromoyan said the Commission is working within 15 days as of the date of day of the October 11 election date to come out with the final result, but assured that the final results would be announced before the October 26 date.

Meanwhile, Liberia’s Police Inspector-General, Marc Amblard has warned would-be trouble makers planning to disrupt the current peace and create post-election difficulties for the government to abandon their the move.

“We will not compromise the peace Liberians have enjoyed since 2006 following its return to constitutional democracy, Inspector- General Amblard told reporters on Friday.

The warning comes against the backdrop of reported planned demonstration in Monrovia on the conduct of the just-ended general and presidential elections.

He said those who work within the law have nothing to fear as the police will ensure their civil liberty remains intact but those wishing to undermine peace will face the raft of the police.

Stalwarts of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of ex-UN Secretary General Special envoy to Somalia, Cllr. Winston Tubman are unhappy with the unofficial results announced by various media outlets in the country since election ended Tuesday ahead of NEC’s official results.

Threatening remarks continue to be released particularly by officials of the CDC, the police boss said.

Also, the Carter Center Election Observation Mission to Liberia has released preliminary report on the conduct of Liberia’s 2011 general and presidential elections describing the voting process as transparent and encouraged citizens to await final results.

“All Liberians should await the announcement of final results by the National Election Commission (NEC) and the resolution of formal complaints in order to ensure that the will of the people is expressed,” a Carter statement issued on Friday said.

Addressing a news conference in Monrovia, the head of mission, former Nigerian head of state, Yakubu Gowon said the poll mark an important test for Liberia’s transition from civil war to democratic, constitutional government.

 
Johnson-Sirleaf maintains lead in preliminary polls results
 

MONROVIA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — Liberia’s Elections Commission has released its second preliminary results on Friday evening in the presidential and legislative elections with incumbent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf maintaining her early lead ahead of 15 other candidates.

The Elections Commission reported that President Johnson- Sirleaf of the ruling Unity Party obtained 265,883 votes representing 45.4 percent of the votes processed, followed by the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of Winston Tubman with 172,681 of the votes, representing 29.5 percent of the votes.

The former warlord and Senator, Prince Y. Johnson of the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP), is maintaining the third place with 66,419 votes, representing 11.4 percent of the votes.

Announcing the second preliminary results Friday, Chairman of the Elections Commission James Fromayan said 629,277 votes have been processed.

He also said, out of the total of 4,457 polling places throughout the country, 2,242 polling places have been processed so far.

In the first preliminary results, incumbent President Johnson- Sirleaf got 44.5 percent of the votes while Winston Tubman of the CDC got 26.5 percent of the votes and Prince Johnson of the NUDP got 13.5 percent of the votes.

Liberians went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a president and 88 legislators.

Ninety-nine candidates are vying for 15 senatorial seats while 793 for 73 seats in the House of Representatives.

There are 1,798,930 registered voters in the country with a population of 3.5 million.

A candidate is required to obtain 50 percent plus one vote to win the presidency. But if none of the candidates obtains the 50 percent plus one vote, the two candidates with the most votes would go into a run-off election.

Final results are expected on Oct. 26, and should there be a run-off, the run-off election is expected to be held on Nov. 8.

President Johnson-Sirleaf’s main challenger Winston Tubman is a lawyer and a former Attorney-General of Liberia as well as a former United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia.

The elections in Liberia, the second since the 14-year civil war ended 2003, are seen as a test to peace and stability in the country.
Xinhua
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