16 October 2017

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Weah Now 39.0%, Boakai 29.1% of Votes Tallied So Far, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

The Daily Observer reports that for a possible third time since multi-party elections were restored, Liberians will be revisiting the polls to decide on who becomes the country’s next president in a run-off presidential election between the two candidates who have obtained the most number of votes from the October 10 polls.

The two candidates with most of the votes so far have not been able to secure 50%+1. So far the top opposition contender, Senator George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), has secured 572,453 votes, which amounts to 39.0% of the 1,550,923 votes already tallied across the country. Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP), trails behind Senator Weah with 427,550 votes, 29.1% of the national tally so far.

And with the National Elections Commission (NEC) having tallied 95.6% of all votes cast on October 10, it is quite unavoidable that a run-off election will ensue. Read more

Liberia Elections: Runoff Lobbying Underway - Weah, VP Look to Build Alliances, Source: FrontPage Africa

FrontPage Africa reports that with 95.6% of polling places from ballot stations across Liberia reporting, it is looking increasingly likely and mathematically obvious that this year’s presidential race is headed to a run-off conclusion. Senator George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP) are on a collision course to woo and sway the rest of the field of 20 candidates eyeing the Liberian Presidency into their corner. Promises of jobs are likely to dominate discussions.

In the past few days, rival supporters of both the CDC and UP have been insinuating that they could pull it off in the first round. But as of the last count, last Saturday, Senator Weah has obtained 572, 374 votes for 39.0%; Vice President Boakai has obtained 427,544 votes for 29. 0%; Liberty Party’s Charles Brumskine, 144,353 votes for 9.8%; Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress has obtained 104,125 votes for 7.1 % and Senator Prince Johnson of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction has 102,561 votes for 7.0%.

Like the elections in 2005 and 2011, at this stage of the process, the two leading candidates have already begun making moves across the aisle in hopes of winning over supporters of the rest of the playing field in a bid to strengthen positions for the run-off.

In 2005, an unlikely kingmaker, Dr. Joseph Korto of the Liberia Equal Rights Party threw his weight behind Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who had just finished second to Mr. Weah in the first round.

Dr. Korto’s impressive show in vote-rich Nimba would later be rewarded with the education minister post, a position he served from 2006-2010. Dr. Korto placed seventh out of 22 candidates, receiving 3.3% of the vote nationally and the highest vote total in Nimba County, his home base.

John S. Morlu Sr, from another vote-rich county, Lofa, finished with 1.2 percent of the votes and landed the coveted post of maritime commissioner. Nathaniel Barnes, who scored less than 1%, became Liberian ambassador to the UN and eventually to the United States. Nearly all the remaining 20 candidates and their key partisans received positions in government.

In 2011, all the opposition candidates (except for Dr. Cecelia Ndebe and Dew Mayson) who challenged Madam Sirleaf eventually joined her camp in the second round, securing lucrative positions and contracts in government - as a reward for support.

Liberty Party’s Brumskine was promised the ECOWAS vice president position but he did not get it. In exchange, he received government-backed contracts, which angered then UP chairman Varney Sherman. Nearly all the key executives in Liberty Party secured high-level posts in the UP-led government during Sirleaf’s second term.

Six years later, Sirleaf’s incumbent factor was crucial but it was the support of Nimba Senator Prince Johnson who allegedly received thousands in exchange for his second round support to Sirleaf, that proved to be the difference as he broke away from the opposition and took his 13 percent votes total to the ruling party, leaving the rest of the opposition in the cold.

Rev. Kennedy Sandy who barely registered in the votes in 2011 was able to secure a $10K a month plus benefits at the Constitutional Review Commission for his support to Sirleaf during the second round.

This year is no different. The jockeying and lobbying for positions have already commenced.

Last week both Weah and Boakai began making approaches to the rest of the field of 20 candidates in hopes of getting their support and win over their supporters.

Weah, according to sources has reached out to Brumskine, Cummings, and Prince Johnson as have Boakai. Read more

Brumskine Cries Foul, Wants Election Rerun, Source: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and The New Dawn

The Opposition Liberty Party (LP) is demanding that the just ended election be rerun claiming that massive fraud and irregularities are to blame for preliminary results indicating that the LP performed poorly. With 95.6 percent of the polling stations already counted, the LP standard bearer, Cllr. Charles Brumskine, has obtained a total vote count of 144, 353, representing 9.8 percent. This result puts Cllr. Brumskine far behind a potential runoff between Senator George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and governing Unity Party (UP) of Vice President Joseph Boakai.

Up to date, the CDC has obtained 572,374 votes totaling 39.0 percent, followed by the UP with 427, 544 votes representing 29.1 percent, far outdistancing the LP with 9.8 percent. Brumskine said that the elections were faced with “serious gross irregularities and fraud that undercut the integrity of the process as well as denying voters their constitutional rights to vote,” adding “The preliminary results released by authorities of the National Elections Commissions (NEC) are not valid, because we at the LP have evidence to prove our case.”

The LP standard bearer said that their pieces of evidence range from the stuffing of ballot boxes with marked ballot papers for another party than the LP in Nimba County by a presiding officer of NEC; the late opening of polls at some centers; and the omission of names and photographs from the voters’ roll. Read more

Two Candidates in Bong District#5 Call for Rerun at Gbartala Precinct, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Two candidates for the District #5 representative seat in Bong County have called on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to re-administer the elections in the Gbartala precinct. They are independent candidate Silas Kpanan Ayoung Siakor and Amos Mhulbah Kornimugie of the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE). According to them, they have formally registered their objections to the NEC to have a runoff in line with Article 5.9 of the New Elections Law, which indicate that a voter, candidate or registered political party may file a complaint with the Commission alleging that an offense against the Constitution or the Elections law, or violation of a regulation issued by the Commission has occurred.

Mr. Siakor stressed that Article 5.10 further states that a complaint must be submitted in writing no later than seven days after the time the offense or violation was witnessed, signed by the witness and accompanied by any evidence the complainant has.

The two candidates complained that on October 10, the election process at the Gbartala Precinct was characterized by insecurity thus creating an unsafe environment that led hundreds of voters to abandon the voting process without voting.

They claimed that “the election process was chaotic and disorganized leading to hundreds of voters not being able to vote during the election because the polling place was kept opened until Wednesday morning, October 11, for voters to unlawfully assemble and illegally vote after midnight on October 10.” Read more

Illiteracy, Poor Voter Education Pose Serious Challenges during Voting Process, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Official provisional results from the National Elections Commission (NEC) have revealed that the high illiteracy rate among the electorate and challenges in the electoral process affected the number of votes cast, including the number of invalid votes.

According to NEC four provisional results, Sunday, 15 October, out of the total vote count of 1,466,748 so far, 84,071 were invalid votes and accounted for even more than the votes garnered by some candidates. In 2011, the invalid votes were 80,504 or 6.5 % of the total votes. Surprisingly, the invalid votes are mostly from vote-rich counties, especially home to leading candidates. Read more

Five Incumbents Lose House Seats in Bong County, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Preliminary results coming in from polling centers across Bong County show that five incumbent lawmakers will lose their seats. Out of the seven incumbent lawmakers, only two are retaining their seats. The two are Electoral District #2 lawmaker Prince Moye of the ruling Unity Party (UP) and Electoral District #5 lawmaker Edward Karfiah of the People’s Unification Party (PUP).

Representative Moye has led overwhelmingly at almost 95 percent of the polling centers in the district while Representative Karfiah is freewheeling to victory after 90 percent of the results from polling centers in his district ahead of his closest contender, human rights activist and Independent candidate Silas Siakor. Read more

‘The Blood of Politicians Not More Important Than Yours,’ Cllr. Chesson-Wureh Advises Zogos, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The head of the Women’s Situation Room (WSR), Cllr. Yvette Chesson-Wureh, says no politician’s blood is more important than those of children who are in the street. Cllr. Chesson-Wureh made the statement Sunday at the Gang Youth Summit 2017 when dozens of street boys and girls commonly called “Zogos” gathered at the Paynesville Town Hall during which they sang and danced to promote peace before, during and after the elections in the country.

The WSR head said she was very glad to see the street boys and girls in their huge numbers and in a joyous mood saying ‘no to violence and yes to peace’ after the incoming results of the 2017 presidential and legislative elections.

She told the gathering of youth not to waste their blood because someone wants to become a president, a representative or a senator. “All I ask is where are the children of those people that are asking you to cause violence in Liberia? Are they better than you?”

Cllr. Chesson-Wureh further said that while it is the right of citizens to support political parties, they must, however, not shed their blood for them, suggesting that the children of politicians who preach violence should be the ones to shed their blood for their parents. Read more

President Sirleaf Declares October 15 ‘World Sight, White Cane Safety Day, Sources: FAAPA, LINA, and The New Dawn

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has by Proclamation declared Sunday, October 15, as “World Sight and White Cane Safety Day” to be observed throughout the Republic as a Working Holiday. As the day falls on Sunday, President Sirleaf has directed that the day be observed on Monday, 16 October as a Working Holiday.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, this year’s World Sight and White Cane Safety Day’s celebration will take place at the S.T. Nagbe United Methodist Church in the Monrovia suburb of Sinkor, under the theme: “Respect the White Cane”.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Weah and Boakai to face off in Liberia presidential runoff, Sources: BBC, Citizen, Daily Nation, France 24, GNN Liberia, Journal du Cameroun, Mail Online, Miami Herald, New Vision, Premium Times, Reuters, Startfor, The Nation, The Star, US News & World Report, and VOA

Former international footballer George Weah and Liberia's Vice President Joseph Boakai will face a runoff for the presidency on November 7, the national election commission announced Sunday.

With tallies in from 95.6 percent of polling stations, Weah took 39.0 percent of the votes and Boakai 29.1 percent, both well short of the 50 percent barrier required to win outright from the first round of voting held on Tuesday.

National Elections Commission chairman Jerome Korkoya told journalists that 1,550,923 votes had been counted and turnout was at 74.52 percent.

Three other candidates took a significant share of votes with veteran opposition leader Charles Brumskine at 9.8 percent, former Coca-Cola Executive Alexander Cummings at 7.1 percent and former warlord turned preacher Prince Johnson at 7.0 percent.

These candidates will now decide which runoff contender they will direct their supporters to follow, holding significant sway over the final results.

Liberian opposition Brumskine calls for rerun of October 10 polls, Source: Journal du Cameroun

The standard bearer of the opposition Liberty Party, Counselor Charles Walker Brumskine who is in the third place according to results of the presidential poll released so far, has called for a re-run of the October 10 presidential election. In a statement issued in Monrovia Friday, Counselor Brumskine said his call was occasioned by the fraudulent and confused nature of the October 10 polls.

The Liberty Party Standard Bearer threatened that his party would stage a protest if the election outfit fails to heed his call.

Two members of the party told reporters Friday that even though they voted for the Liberty Party Standard in a certain voting precinct, the elections commission in its preliminary result claimed that the party received no vote in that particular precinct.

On Wednesday, the Liberty Party Standard Bearer asked the National Elections Commission to put a halt to the announcement of election results until his complaint is addressed. Despite Brumskine’s request, the NEC has continued to announce provisional results of the presidential and legislative polls.

In apparent response to the Liberty Party’s request, the NEC has assured that it is open to address complaints and grievances of candidates and party members,

Liberia: Despite trailing George Weah in official tally, VP says he’s sure of victory, Sources: Premium Times, Prime News Ghana, The Guardian, and Vanguard

Vice President Joseph Boakai of Liberia says “nothing is going to stop” his victory in the October 10 presidential elections.

Speaking with journalists in Monrovia, he expressed optimism of winning the election in the first round, although he is still second in the provisional results released so far.

As at Saturday, Mr. Boakai of the ruling Unity Party was still the first runner-up with 334,162 votes representing 29.6 percent of the votes so far processed.

Former football star, Mr. George Manneh Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) was leading with 441,839 or 39.2 percent.

“As far as I’m concerned, I know the Unity Party is going to win the elections; nothing is going to stop it.

“I went into the election to win, and I don’t settle for second round, I went to the polls for first round,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a winner of the presidential elections must secure at least more than 50 percent of the total votes cast to avoid a run-off.

Twenty candidates contested in the election to succeed outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is stepping down after serving out her two terms.

The Chairman of the National Elections Commission, Jerome Korkoya, had released more provisional results on Saturday, bringing the total votes so far processed to 1.12 million.

Mr. Korkoya said votes from 3,991 polling units had been processed as at Saturday out of a total of 5,390 units across the country.

NAN also reports that 2.1 million voters registered for the 2017 general elections.

Meanwhile, the opposition figure and presidential candidate of Liberty Party, Charles Brumskine, had alleged fraud in the elections, in spite the international observers adjudging it free and fair.

Mr. Brumskine, who stood at a third position with 9.3 percent, alleged the polls were marred by gross irregularities and fraud, calling for a re-run.

Disclaimer
 

This media summary consists of selected local media articles for the information of UN personnel. The public distribution of this media summary is a courtesy service extended by UNMIL on the understanding that the choice of articles included is exclusive, and the contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership. The inclusion of articles in this summary does not imply endorsement by UNMIL.

 

 

 

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