MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf urged voters yesterday to ignore a poll boycott called for by her rival, saying the move was illegal and intended to intimidate Liberians.
Her calls were echoed by both the United States and West African regional body ECOWAS who criticised the move and indicated that they would recognise the vote anyway.
Winston Tubman, the challenger in a presidential run-off vote due on Nov. 8, said on Friday he would not take part in or recognise the results of the vote because the process was biased against him.
The boycott risks derailing Liberia’s second post-war election, viewed as a measure of how far the minerals-rich nation has come since years of war ended in 2003.
Tubman called for a demonstration yesterday but, by late afternoon, there were no signs of notable protests. Security was heightened though, with joint United Nations and Liberian police patrols in the streets at slow speed with sirens on.
“Do not succumb to fear and intimidation. Do not allow any politician to hold our country hostage,” Johnson-Sirleaf said in a radio address to the nation.
“Do not allow Mr Tubman to falsely claim boycott when what he is doing is forfeiting the rights of the finals because he fears defeat,” she added.
The US State Department said it was disappointed by the decision of Tubman’s CDC party and encouraged Liberians to participate in the run-off election: “The CDC’s charge that the first-round election was fraudulent is unsubstantiated.”
ECOWAS accused Tubman of trying to undermine the election process and going back on talks he had with it.
ECOWAS also said that so long as the Nov. 28 vote was seen to pass off smoothly and is endorsed by “credible observers”, the West African group would recognise the result.
Johnson-Sirleaf, a newly-named Nobel Peace Prize laureate, led after the first round with 43.9 per cent of the vote and has since secured the support of third-placed, former rebel leader Prince Johnson, who won 11.6 per cent. Tubman, a former UN diplomat who took 32.7 per cent in the first round, has sought to have the election commission revamped in between the rounds.
The election commission chief resigned as a result but Tubman said the changes were not enough and on Friday said he would “never grant legitimacy to a corrupt political process”.
