Liberia Presidential Election

[Merseymike]

Looks as if former professional footballer George Weah has been elected as president although no official announcement as yet.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2017 17:24:07 GMT Merseymike said:

Looks as if former professional footballer George Weah has been elected as president although no official announcement as yet.

Why make a thread now where its all (hopefully) over?

The general election (incl. the first round) was back on 10 October, and all the drama with the 3rd candidate Charles Brumskine claiming fraud and both sides in the run-off distrusting NEC and its electoral roll is behind us. Now its just Weah claiming he has won by 70%, and if it turns out he hasn't (official results to be public tomorrow) we have the usual African post-electoral shitshow. 

Claiming in advance you have won (often by a ridiculous margin) is a standard move in African elections as you can then cry fraud if it turns out you haven't. Turnout was low (at least early on), which should harm Weah as his supporters are younger and poorer than those backing VP Joseph Boakai. 

[Merseymike]

Dec 28, 2017 18:03:45 GMT @odo said:

Dec 28, 2017 17:24:07 GMT Merseymike said:

Looks as if former professional footballer George Weah has been elected as president although no official announcement as yet.

Why make a thread now where its all (hopefully) over?

The general election (incl. the first round) was back on 10 October, and all the drama with the 3rd candidate Charles Brumskine claiming fraud and both sides in the run-off distrusting NEC and its electoral roll is behind us. Now its just Weah claiming he has won by 70%, and if it turns out he hasn't (official results to be public tomorrow) we have the usual African post-electoral shitshow. 

Claiming in advance you have won (often by a ridiculous margin) is a standard move in African elections as you can then cry fraud if it turns out you haven't. Turnout was low (at least early on), which should harm Weah as his supporters are younger and poorer than those backing VP Joseph Boakai. 

Because the outcome could be interesting. He has now been announced as winner by the electoral commission of Liberia

You're not obliged to comment!

[Deleted]

Weah has done a deal with the Devil this time. His running mate is Jewel Howard Taylor, former wife of convicted warlord and ex-president Charles Taylor and "First Lady" during his regime. She has stated that she is committed to "bringing the country back to the agenda outlined by Taylor" during his presidency. As the Senator for Bong (great title..) she proposed introducing the death penalty for gay sex. Lovely lady.

Taylor still controls his National Patriotic Party (NPP) from prison, and he might be about to rule the country by proxy (in which case Liberia would be run from County Durham). 

[andrewteale]

[mrhell]

Dec 28, 2017 17:24:07 GMT Merseymike said:

Looks as if former professional footballer George Weah has been elected as president although no official announcement as yet.

Has his cousin got a job yet?

[Deleted]

We get the final results today, but with 98.1% of polling places reporting it was:

Weah 61.5%
Boakai 38.5%

So a clear victory.

www.necliberia.org/pg_img/Presidential%20Run-off%20Preliminary%20Results%202017.pdf

[Deleted]

Boakai only won Lofa County in the interior (where he is above 80%), and is only above 40% in Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount (all three in the west), and Nimba. Weah passed 90% in SE Grand Kru. So as one would expect a very ethnic map.

[Deleted]

There are lots of local variations, but generally Boakai did best in areas speaking Mande languages or Gola. While Kru speaking Liberia voted overwhelmingly for Weah.

[finsobruce]

George Weah has been driven from office already! By snakes....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47987971