Liberia’s president, George Weah, conceded defeat on Friday evening in his bid for a second time period, after a decent runoff in opposition to Joseph Boakai, a 78-year-old political veteran, in an election that was thought-about a check of democracy within the West African nation.
Mr. Boakai, who had served as vice chairman for 12 years below the previous president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, defeated Mr. Weah, a 57-year-old former soccer star, by a razor-thin margin.
The nation’s nationwide election fee stopped in need of declaring a winner on Friday afternoon, however introduced that with greater than 99 p.c of the ballots counted, Mr. Boakai held 50.89 p.c of the votes, and Mr. Weah 49.11 p.c. It was the nation’s tightest election in 20 years, and a rematch of the election in 2017, when Mr. Weah handily beat Mr. Boakai.
Mr. Weah stated in a radio tackle broadcast late on Friday night that whereas his social gathering had misplaced the election, “Liberia has gained.”
“This can be a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to put our nation above social gathering, and patriotism above private curiosity,” he stated.
His phrases marked a notably peaceable transition of energy at a time when many different West African international locations have endured a spate of coups, getting older leaders clinging to energy and elections tormented by allegations of vote rigging.
In Nigeria and in Sierra Leone, unbiased observers have solid doubt on the outcomes of presidential contests this 12 months. In Niger and Guinea, juntas rule regardless of worldwide efforts to revive civilian governments.
That is the primary time for the reason that early 1900s that an incumbent president of Liberia has not been re-elected after serving one time period. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for January.
The election, first held on Oct. 10 with the runoff on Tuesday, was the primary one managed solely by Liberian authorities with out worldwide funding or help for the reason that nation emerged in 2003 from a ruinous civil struggle.
Mr. Boakai plans to talk publicly on Saturday, his spokesman stated. The candidate advised Reuters on Friday evening, “At the start, we wish to have a message of peace and reconciliation.”
The presidential marketing campaign hinged on accusations that Mr. Weah tolerated corruption in authorities circles and didn’t ship jobs and improvement, regardless of the nation’s financial rebound after the pandemic.
One voter within the capital, Monrovia, stated that he had solid a poll for Mr. Boakai due to his promise to crack down on drug abuse and corruption.
“It’s unthinkable that you’d see younger folks getting hooked on medicine, and the president doesn’t have any concept how you can deal with it,” stated the voter, MacPherson Darweh, who’s 45.
Mr. Weah “doesn’t have a way of belonging and doesn’t even understand how the nation has been ruled and run,” Mr. Darweh stated. “He nonetheless thinks he’s a soccer participant operating round city.”
Liberia, a rustic of 5.5 million folks, declared independence within the nineteenth century — a century forward of most African international locations — with a democratic political system that was modeled on that of the US.
However the nation was racked by civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that left about 250,000 folks useless.
The Ebola epidemic between 2013 and 2016 additionally killed hundreds, leaving the nation in a precarious state and prompting the United Nations to take over group of the nation’s elections — till this 12 months.
Liberia’s economic system grew by 4.8 p.c in 2022, in accordance with the World Financial institution, primarily pushed by mining and a comparatively good agricultural harvest. However greater than 80 p.c of the inhabitants is meals insecure, the World Financial institution stated in July, and costs of primary meals merchandise and gasoline have skyrocketed over the previous 12 months, with over half of Liberians dwelling under the poverty line, on $1.90 a day.
A group of observers from the Financial Group of West African States on Wednesday congratulated Liberians for “the commonly peaceable conduct of the elections thus far.” The European Union stated in a press release that Tuesday’s runoff was “calm” and “effectively organized,” and there have been “organizational enhancements” in comparison with the primary spherical.
Law enforcement officials in riot gear patrolled the streets of Monrovia, the Liberian capital, because the vote proceeded, whereas polling employees counted ballots late into the evening by lamps and flashlights due to energy cuts, which have develop into frequent within the nation.
Mr. Weah and Mr. Boakai had completed nearly neck and neck within the first spherical of the election, with neither passing the 50 p.c threshold required to be declared the outright winner. Mr. Weah had a slim lead, by simply over 7,000 votes.
Mr. Boakai, a political veteran in Liberia, served as agriculture minister within the Nineteen Eighties, and director of the state-owned Liberian Petroleum Refinery in 1992, when the civil struggle raged. Though he was not implicated in any corruption scandals, as vice chairman he was accused by his critics of turning a blind eye to corruption within the authorities.
On this 12 months’s election, he appeared to realize traction by portraying himself as a secure pair of arms to steer the nation in a brand new route. He centered on grievances with Mr. Weah’s rule, criticizing his opponent for his lavish life-style and for being out of contact with Liberian society.
However Mr. Boakai’s opponents centered on his being almost 80 years outdated, and nicknamed him “Sleepy Joe,” accusing him of napping throughout a public occasion.
The election was a rerun of the vote in 2017, when Mr. Weah defeated Mr. Boakai by a comparatively giant margin, capitalizing on his standing as a sports activities celebrity and political outsider who claimed he might higher the lives of unusual Liberians.
Final time round, Mr. Weah’s story of ascent to the top of world soccer after rising up in a Liberian slum had resonated with younger folks in a nation the place 60 p.c of the inhabitants is below 25.
However his picture as an advocate for the poor cracked below the burden of graft scandals, a failure to take care of the drug disaster and hovering dwelling prices. Below his authorities, Liberia has fallen 20 locations on a corruption index compiled by Transparency Worldwide, rating 142nd final 12 months out of 180 international locations.
Final 12 months, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on three Liberian officers, together with Mr. Weah’s chief of employees, Nathaniel McGill. An investigation promised by Mr. Weah has but to materialize.