Monrovia — Liberia's National Election Commission (NEC) has released the completed tally of last week's presidential run-off showing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with 59.4 and George Weah with 40.6 percent.
The balloting on November 8 followed first-round voting on October 11, in which 22 candidates stood for the presidency and voters also elected members of the country's two-house legislature.
The Commission announced that formal certification of the results would occur on the constitutionally mandated date of November 23, 2005 and said in a press release that the results are to be considered preliminary until they are certified by the board of Commissioners. Once certified, Sirleaf will become the first woman to win election as head of state in Africa.
The results that were announced Monday indicate that Sirleaf received 478,526 votes while Weah received 327,047. A total of 61 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the run-off, compared to nearly 75 percent in the voting for president and legislature on October 8, when over one million Liberians turned up at the polls.
The NEC said it is investigating complaints laid out by Weah's party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), relating to the November 8 voting. NEC Chairman Frances Johnson-Morris said the process would be completed before November 23 and that the hearing will be open to the media. The findings of the investigation are unlikely to affect overall election results.
Johnson-Morris said that she has no power to overturn the will of the Liberian people. Responding to a question from a journalist regarding elected CDC legislators who threatened not to take their seats unless the results of the elections were reversed, she said that "every candidate signed a statement indicating that they would serve if elected" and added that "there are provisions in our laws for by-elections." Since the CDC has 15 seats in the 64-member House, a CDC boycott would not stop the legislature.
On Monday, about 200 CDC partisans took to the streets, following a march they held over the week-end to protest the election outcome. The marchers, escorted by police from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), delivered a statement to the U.S. Embassy, where they were met by the Charge d'Affairs.
At one point, the marchers attempted to walk towards the residence of Mrs. Sirleaf, located about a half mile from the CDC headquarters, but were turned away by UNMIL peacekeepers now guarding the area. The peacekeepers have posted soldiers and an armored personal carrier (APC) around the residence.
CDC leaders are reportedly divided as to what position to take after the announcement of the final results. In remarks read in front of the U.S. Embassy, a CDC spokesman said they would continue their marches until the results of the process are reversed. He added that if NEC went ahead and announced the final results, CDC would mount a protest that would paralyze the nation.
Meanwhile, the mood at Sirleaf's Unity Party headquarters has remained sober. Sirleaf said that, although she is assured of the outcome, she would not claim victory until the NEC certifies the results. She has been granting interviews to local and international media about her intention to form an "inclusive" government that reflects the ethnic and religious tapestry of the nation.
Sirleaf hinted at the possibility of convening, in collaboration with the Governance Reform Commission (GRC), a national consultative meeting to discuss a set of reforms that her government intends to implement once inaugurated on January 16. Sirleaf chaired the GRC until she was nominated earlier this year to head the Unity Party. She also has reiterated her determination that there be no witch-hunting and that her number one priority is national reconciliation.
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Hours after the release of the results, Monrovia appeared calm, with no sign of protest. Weah has received appeals from religious and ethnic leaders, as well as many Liberians living abroad, to accept the results. "As an international athlete, he should know more than anyone that one does not win every match," said an African diplomat posted in Monrovia who added: "This is his first time and he is still young, but his political future will largely depend on how he conducts himself now."
Several Liberian organizations, including the Liberian Council of Churches, which fielded 12 international observers and 400 locals, have termed the electoral process as "orderly, peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible", while also endorsing the election commission's commitment to investigate all claims of malfeasance.
