Africa News of Thursday, 16 November 2023

Source: bbc.com

Liberia run-off poll results point to tight race

Liberia's electoral body is expected to announce the final results within 15 days of the voting date Liberia's electoral body is expected to announce the final results within 15 days of the voting date

Initial results from the presidential run-off election in Liberia point to an extremely tight race.

With almost a quarter of the results in, President George Weah has 49% of the votes, just behind the opposition's Joseph Boakai who has over 50%.

In the first round, both men were also neck and neck - with the third placed candidate securing just 2% of the vote.

Neither President Weah nor Mr Boakai achieved more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the election, triggering the run-off.

The same two candidates also faced each other in the 2017 election, which ended in a run-off comfortably won by President Weah.

The final run-off results are expected to be released within 15 days of the 14 November polling date.

Liberia is still struggling with the long-term impact of civil wars and the economic fall-out from the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.