George Weah Wins Liberia's Presidency Daily Brief Thursday 28 December 2017
President elect George Weah
Monrovia, Liberia
Former world footballer of the year, George Weah has won the run off presidential poll after defeating current vice president Joseph Boakai. He is set to succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female president, in Liberia's first democratic handover in decades.
On his Twitter page, the president elect said, "My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the nation. I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task which I embrace today. Change is on."
Mr. Weah played in top-flight European football clubs Paris St-Germain and AC Milan. He ended his career in England, playing briefly at Chelsea and Manchester City. He is the only African to have ever been awarded Fifa World Player of the Year and Ballon D'Or. He entered politics after his retirement from football in 2002 and is currently a senator.
This is his second stab at the presidency after losing the election to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005.
His party the Coalition for Democratic Change focused their campaign on youth and change. His opponent Joseph was seen as the establishment and at 73, old and out of touch with Liberia's youthful population.
Mr. Weah, 51, won the first round of the presidential election in October with 38.4% of the vote, compared with the 28.8% won by second-placed Mr. Boakai. The failure of any candidate to secure an outright majority forced the run-off.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) said on Thursday that with 98.1% of the run-off vote counted, Mr Weah had won 61.5% of the vote while Mr Boakai was far behind with 38.5%.
Voter turnout was 56%. A drop compared to the October polls. Two million people were eligible to vote in the nation of over four million people.
The president elect will be sworn in in January after the incumbent's term ends.
We here at the Briefing Room commend the people of Liberia for conducting themselves peacefully in choosing their next leader.