With the announcement of the final results of the October 10, 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections in which none of the candidates obtained the legal required 50 percent plus one votes, political lobby has begun as incumbent President George M. Weah and former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai have begun lobbying with defeated Presidential Candidate for their supports.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced the final results of the just-ended elections with incumbent Weah obtaining 43.83 percent with his main challenger, Joseph Boakai coming second with 43.43 percent of the total valid votes.
As a result, a second round of presidential election in Liberia has been announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC) setting November 14, 2023 as the day for the Run-off Presidential Election between incumbent George Weah and his main challenger, Joseph Nyumah Boakai.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC) said progressive consolidated tallied results put Weah at 43.83%, while Boakai follows with 43.44%. Coming third is Edward Appleton of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) with 2.20%, according to the final batch of progressive tallied results announced by NEC.
The requirement for a second round is stipulated in Article 83 of Liberia’s 1986 constitution. “Article 83 (a) states that, “Voting for the President, Vice-President, members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives shall be conducted throughout the Republic on the second Tuesday in October of each election year.
All elections of public officers shall be determined by an absolute majority of the votes cast. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be conducted on the second Tuesday following. The two candidates who received the greatest numbers of votes on the first ballot shall be designated to participate in the run-off election.”
In the final results which was announced by NEC yesterday, Tuesday, October 24, 2023, the country’s electoral body announced November 14, 2023 as the date for the Run-off elections between the two top candidates, the ruling CDC, incumbent President George Weah and the main opposition UP, former Vice President Joseph Boakai.
With the two main candidates in the second round of the presidential election, serious lobbying has begun by Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Mr. Boakai of the Unity Party to ensure that they win more votes if one of them is to be declare as winner of the election in the country.
As lobbying intensifies, one of the main opposition leaders whose doors is been knocked on continually is the Standard-bearer of the Collaborating Political Party’s defeated candidate, Alexander B. Cummings whose despite his defeat is meeting the two candidates as he contemplates on who to support in the runoff election.
Several Liberians have lavished praises on the Standard Bearer of the Opposition Collaborating Political Party (CPP), Alexander B. Cummings, for his continued strides for the sustenance of peace and tranquility in Liberia.
To the surprised of many, Mr. Cummings on Tuesday hosted both incumbent Goerge Manneh Weah and his main challenger, former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, at this residence Payne Avenue, 15 Street, south of the Sinkor suburb in Monrovia.
Although details of the meeting have not been made public, Mr. Alexander Cummings in a short social media post on his officially Facebook page read, “Today, I was pleased to separately host both President George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai at my residence at their respective request. The CPP will continue to engage both the CDC and the Unity Party as we determine our position for the runoff, in spite of our concerns raised with the NEC. We will be speaking to the nation tomorrow in details as to what will be our decision as a party. I want to thank both leaders of their parties for visiting and for the fruitful discussions we had today.”
Last week, Mr. Cummings termed ongoing results being announce by the National Elections Commission as ‘sophisticated and a difficult scheme to trace and prove’. Mr. Cummings vowed to expose the evil geniuses involved and their co-conspirators, suggesting that his CPP was cheated by the NEC in alignment with some other hidden hands.
The former senior Coca-Cola executive outlined several reservations with the October 10 polls outcomes and promised his supporters that the CPP would investigate and bring to light what has happened.
“Let me assure all of you that we will continue to do everything within our power to investigate and bring to light what has happened. I promise you that no matter how long it takes, everyone involved will answer,” said Mr. Cummings.
