Boakai close to election victory over President Weah

Political veteran Joseph Boakai was marginally ahead of incumbent George Weah in the race for the Liberian presidency, with over 99 per cent of polling stations reporting, results published Friday showed.

Former vice president Boakai had garnered 50.89 per cent of votes cast, with Weah on 49.11 per cent after over 99.5 per cent of the polling stations had been tallied, said electoral commission president Davidetta Browne Lansanah.

Final results from 25 polling stations were suspended, meaning an unknown number of votes still have to be counted.

But political expert Abdullah Kiatamba said it looked almost impossible for former football great Weah to make up the gap.

“The reality at this moment is that given the numbers it is impossible to reverse the gain,” he told AFP.

“To do so it means the CDC (Weah’s party) will need to win numbers that are four or five times the current trend,” added Kiatamba.