The vote count results are getting closer and closer to being finalized, and the Liberian elections commission said on Friday that opposition leader Joseph Boakai is on track to become the country’s next president.
The commission reported that Boakai was in the lead with 50.89 percent of the vote, which was higher than President George W. Bush’s 49.11 percent. The results were tallied from 99.6 percent of the polling stations.
The first round of voting took place in October, and Boakai and Weah tied for first place. However, neither candidate received the required 50% of the vote to win the election outright; therefore, a run-off was held on Tuesday.
The election is considered mainly a test of support for former soccer star and current Liberian President George Weah, 57, who was criticized during his first term by the opposition and Liberia’s foreign allies for not doing enough to combat corruption. This election is widely seen as a test of support for former soccer star George Weah.
The goal of Boakai’s campaign, who lost to Weah in the 2017 election despite being 78 years old, has been to protect the nation from what he refers to as Weah’s administration’s “mismanagement.”
