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Harvard-trained Iron Lady Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf appeared to be the first female president in Africa as results from nearly 90 percent of the polling stations on Thursday gave her a commanding advantage over football great George Weah in Liberia's post-war presidential runoff.
The 66-year-old grandmother and former finance minister had 59.2 percent of the votes while the 39-year-old former FIFA player of the year had 40.8 percent, Frances Johnson-Morris, chairwoman of the National Elections Commission, told a news conference.
The results, she said, are from 2,719 of the 3,070 polling stations across the war-torn west African country.
Weah on Wednesday claimed that the election was marred by fraud and accused Johnson-Morris of bias against him. He told a news conference that more than 35 pre-marked ballot papers intended to be stuffed in ballot boxes in favor of his challenger, were intercepted by his supporter as evidence to prove his claims.
"The NEC (National Elections Commission) has received a formal complaint from the Congress for Democratic Change (Weah's party),"Johnson-Morris said earlier.
"We have attached very much importance to the complaint and will immediately begin investigation and do everything expeditiously to dispose of the case."
Analysts fear the worst that angry supporters of Weah, mostly youth, might turn to violence over the fraud allegations if he lost to Liberia's foremost female politician. Weah and Johnson-Sirleaf obtained 28.3 percent and 19.8 percent respectively in the first round.
Liberia, founded in 1847 by freed American slaves, experienced a bloody civil war from 1989 to 2003 in which an estimated 250,000people, about eight percent of its population, died and about one million made refugees.
No matter who wins eventually, the issues she or he will have to contend with are reconciliation among Liberians and reconstruction of basic social services such as schools, health care facilities, roads, safe drinking water, electricity as well as reintegrating thousands of ex-combatants and the creation of job opportunities.
Illiteracy rate in the west African state stands at about 85 percent and unemployment is put at 80 percent. The country also owes an external debt around 3 billion US dollars.
And the election is seen as the last hope of the war-torn country, blessed with diamond, gold, timber, iron ore and rubber as well as fertile soil, for a brighter future provided the outcome is accepted by all Liberians.
(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2005)
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