Liberians vote after end of an era

MONROVIA: Political campaigns in Liberia officially closed at midnight on Sunday ahead of the country’s presidential and House of Representatives elections today.

The west African country heads to the polls with 20 candidates in the race for the top job, as President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf prepares to step down after two terms in office.

This would be the first transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another in the country since 1944. Most of the candidates headed to various churches for prayers on the last day of campaigns. After services, some of them and their supporters hit major roads on a last-minute push to sway voters.

Johnson-Sirleaf’s aspiring successors included her two-term Vice-President Joseph Boakai; football star George Weah; businessman Alexander Cummings and veteran opposition figure Charles Brumskine. Also in the race is Prince Johnson, a former warlord and key player in the first Liberian civil war from 1989 until 1997.

MacDella Cooper, a philanthropist and founder of the MacDella Cooper Foundation for improving the lives of children and women in Liberia, is the only female presidential candidate.

Many political observers believe the election is a two-horse race between Boakai and Weah, who lost to Sirleaf in a run-off in the 2005 presidential polls.

Weah, of the Coalition for Democratic Change, trails Boakai, who is running on the platform of the ruling Unity Party, in opinion polls conducted by the Liberia Holding Consortium.

However, another survey by the International Political Polls in August favoured Weah with 25% against Boakai’s 21%. Cummings, a former executive vice-president of Coca-Cola, who joined the race 18 months ago, is reported to have become a big force with his doorto-door campaign strategy.

The major issues in this election are sustainability of peace and stability, corruption, infrastructure and economic development.

Johnson-Sirleaf is lauded by many for restoring peace in a country ravaged by two civil wars over 14 years. But those achievements are challenged by allegations of corruption and nepotism.