Rain falls on queues in Liberia's peaceful polls
Source: Agencies |
October 12, 2011, Wednesday
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LIBERIANS queued peacefully in the rain yesterday for the west African state's second presidential election since its civil war, with incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf bidding for a second term.
The election pits the newly named Nobel peace laureate against former UN diplomat Winston Tubman and 14 others. It comes at what could be a watershed moment for Liberia, with investors ready to sink billions of dollars into its mining sector and its potential emergence as an oil nation.
"We have had a difficult past, too hard, but today we are voting for peace," said Monrovia resident Benjaman Nimley as he queued at a high school converted into a polling station.
Pointing skywards to the latest downpour of the steamy rainy season, he added: "It is the rain that helps you appreciate the sunshine."
Passions have run high in a contest some forecast will go to a second-round run-off between Johnson-Sirleaf and Tubman, and many voters recall how a dispute over the outcome of the 2005 election led to days of rioting in Monrovia. But observers said the vote so far has been peaceful.
Former Nigerian President General Yacubu Gowon, leading the monitoring team of the US-based Carter Center, said: "So far so good. The reports we are getting shows everything is going smoothly."
The election is the first locally organized presidential poll since the end of the 1989-2003 conflict. Johnson-Sirleaf was elected in a 2005 poll organized by the United Nations.
The election pits the newly named Nobel peace laureate against former UN diplomat Winston Tubman and 14 others. It comes at what could be a watershed moment for Liberia, with investors ready to sink billions of dollars into its mining sector and its potential emergence as an oil nation.
"We have had a difficult past, too hard, but today we are voting for peace," said Monrovia resident Benjaman Nimley as he queued at a high school converted into a polling station.
Pointing skywards to the latest downpour of the steamy rainy season, he added: "It is the rain that helps you appreciate the sunshine."
Passions have run high in a contest some forecast will go to a second-round run-off between Johnson-Sirleaf and Tubman, and many voters recall how a dispute over the outcome of the 2005 election led to days of rioting in Monrovia. But observers said the vote so far has been peaceful.
Former Nigerian President General Yacubu Gowon, leading the monitoring team of the US-based Carter Center, said: "So far so good. The reports we are getting shows everything is going smoothly."
The election is the first locally organized presidential poll since the end of the 1989-2003 conflict. Johnson-Sirleaf was elected in a 2005 poll organized by the United Nations.
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