MONROVIA, (Reuters) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s main rival fled his party headquarters in the capital Monrovia yesterday when it was besieged by dozens of supporters angry at his decision to recognise her government after a disputed November election.
Winston Tubman, who had alleged vote-rigging in favour of Johnson-Sirleaf, made his decision before the Nobel peace laureate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday in front of regional leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“The youths stormed the party’s headquarters … We had to get him out of the compound,” said Acarous Gray, secretary-general of Tubman’s CDC party.
An aide to Tubman said he was not injured but had relocated to a local hotel and would return when calm had returned.
Tubman and his running mate, former soccer star George Weah, boycotted the Nov. 8 run-off election, allowing Johnson-Sirleaf to cruise home with 90.8 percent of the vote. Turnout was a mere 38 percent.
According to Gray, Tubman and Weah met Johnson-Sirleaf over the weekend about calling off a planned Jan. 16 opposition demonstration and finally recognised her government, something CDC supporters said was a betrayal.
“This lady is not good … (Tubman’s) action has shown to us that he sold the party to President Johnson-Sirleaf,” Sylvester Perry, one of the CDC supporters, said.
Tensions have been running high in Liberia since Johnson-Sirleaf’s re-election. Late payment by the government for part-time jobs prompted thousands of youths to rampage through Monrovia on Dec 23, smashing the windows of parked cars.
Fourteen years after a civil war that left it in ruins and its people mired in poverty, Liberia is key to the fragile security of a region that includes Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
