Election of banker sparks fears of unrest in Liberia

Ex-frontrunner tells supporters to stay calm Johnson- Sirleaf set to be first female president

Liberia’s Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf is poised to become Africa’s first elected female leader after a presidential runoff that could provoke massive unrest among the country’s volatile and politically naïve voters. Announcing what seemed an unbeatable lead for the Harvard-educated banker, the National Elections Commission said yesterday that with ballots tallied from nearly 90 per cent of polling stations, Johnson- Sirleaf had 59.1 per cent of the votes from Tuesday’s election. Her rival, millionaire soccer star George Weah, had 40.9 per cent.

“ I think the trend is now irreversible,” 67- year- old Johnson- Sirleaf said. Weah, 39, who came first in an inconclusive first round of voting a month ago, said he was consulting the international community about his allegations of fraud. Weah developed a reputation for rebuilding his war- torn homeland as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador when he set up soccer clubs for street kids and ex- combatants — some of his biggest political supporters.

“ I hope that . . . Mr. Weah will see reason, will accept the result, which I believe reflects the choice of the Liberian people,” Johnson- Sirleaf said. She added she was ready to offer Weah a post in her government.

Weah’s camp gave no immediate word on whether he was conceding defeat in the vote — Liberia’s first since the end of a 1989- 2003 civil war and subsequent formation of a transitional government.

“The preliminary conclusion . . . is that the elections were generally peaceful, free, fair and transparent,” said E. M. Debrah, head of the Economic Community of West African States observer mission. Max van den Berg, head of a 50- member European Union observer mission, said the vote was “ well- administered in a peaceful, transparent and orderly manner.’’

Although the capital Monrovia was calm yesterday, U. N. peacekeepers had used batons on Wednesday night to break up a crowd of dozens of angry Weah supporters.

“ I am telling my people to be very calm because this is a democratic process,” Weah told reporters yesterday.

Liberians willingness to accept the vote is crucial, said Jacob Enoh- Eben, a program coordinator at the Ghana office of the West African Network for Peacebuilding. He said observers will be watching for Johnson- Sirleaf to form a coalition with some of her rivals.

Tina Doe, who’s lived in exile in Ghana for 10 years, said she would have happily returned home to Liberia if Weah had been elected. The footballer is “ the man we’re looking up to for peace. We can relate to him, he brings himself down to the people.”

Liberia briefly had an unelected woman leader, Ruth Perry, in the mid- 1990s.