Liberia's Boakai declares 'victory is mine' ahead of vote
Sunday December 24 2017
Liberia's vice president and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, Joseph Nyumah Boakai (R) arrives to a meeting with members of the Peulhe community on December 24, 2017 in Monrovia. AFP PHOTO | SEYLLOU
Liberia's Vice-President Joseph Boakai said Sunday he was "very, very confident" of winning an upcoming presidential run-off, despite lagging behind opponent George Weah in the first round.
Boakai and former international footballer Weah go head to head in the December 26 vote after a delay of seven weeks caused by legal complaints lodged by the vice-president's Unity Party against the National Elections Commission (NEC).
In an interview with AFP, Boakai said he believed "victory is mine", adding that it had been a "joyous" campaign.
In the first round of voting on October 10, Weah topped the poll with 38.4 per cent while Boakai came second with 28.8 per cent, triggering a run-off as neither made it past the 50 per cent needed to win outright.
Changes
Boakai said he "hoped" that although unsuccessful, his Supreme Court challenges had achieved the required changes by an electoral commission he accused of fraud and incompetence.
"That's the responsibility of the NEC and a national duty, and we pray that they make the election free, fair and credible," he added.
The NEC was required to clean anomalies from the voter register after problems with voting ID were registered in October.
But a final attempt by Boakai to stay the run-off and hand responsibility for a new date to parliament was dismissed Thursday by the country's top court, as was a request for the NEC Chairman to be removed.
After serving at the side of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for 12 years, Boakai has had to tread a thin line between showcasing his record while appearing to offer change to a population fed up with a dire economy and endemic corruption.
Making a final appeal to voters for his platform of economic transformation, Boakai said: "I have said that we will make sure that no student of this country will sit on the floor to learn... and make sure that we create jobs immediately."
Whoever wins the vote faces an economy battered by slumped commodity prices for its main exports rubber and iron ore, and a rapidly depreciating currency.