Economist and soccer star lead in Liberia polls

MONROVIA - Former Finance Minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and soccer star George Weah emerged as early front-runners today in Liberia's first post-war elections, officials said.

Expectation gripped the West African country after an enthusiastic turnout in the presidential and parliamentary polls held on Tuesday, which were aimed at restoring stability after the civil war that ended two years ago.

First results from 39 out of a total of 3,070 polling stations showed Johnson-Sirleaf, a 66-year-old grandmother and Harvard-trained economist, and 39-year-old Weah, a former striker with Italian soccer side AC Milan, leading the field of 22 presidential candidates.

"The two front-runners in the presidential race from these results are Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf with 24.6 per cent from George Weah at 21.2 per cent," National Elections Commission chief Frances Johnson-Morris told a news conference.

She stressed these were early and partial results and called for patience, saying the final national results would take between three and seven days.

If Johnson-Sirleaf wins, she would become Africa's first elected female president.

As UN helicopters and jeeps collected ballot boxes from across Liberia, groups of excited residents clustered around radio sets in Monrovia's shops and coffee houses to hear reports of early voting tallies.

"It's like a see-saw. Some places it's Ellen, some places it's Weah, but in Monrovia George seems to be in the driving seat," said Martin Kromah, 33, a cellphone repairman.

The first partial official results put two other candidates, Charles Brumskine and Winston Tubman, tied in third place with 10.2 per cent each.

Millionaire Weah's well-funded election campaign had drawn huge crowds, especially in the capital Monrovia, where he grew up and was expected to do well.

However, the absence of reliable opinion polls made the final outcome difficult to predict.

Liberians hope the outcome of the polls will cement future stability and leave behind the 14-year civil war that caused a quarter of a million deaths, uprooted almost a third of the population and left the country's infrastructure in ruins.

Some question whether Weah has the qualifications and political experience to be president. His supporters retort that Harvard-trained professionals such as Johnson-Sirleaf have done little to help ordinary Liberians in the past two decades.

Both have said they would work together whoever wins and have pledged to make reconstruction their priority, such as restoring running water and mains electricity.

Among the 22 presidential candidates is one representing the National Patriotic Party of exiled former President Charles Taylor, who triggered the civil war in 1989 and is seen as the mastermind of several West African conflicts.

Taylor went into exile in Nigeria to end Liberia's conflict but he is wanted by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone for war crimes. The court prosecutor said last week he had convincing evidence Taylor was supporting candidates for Tuesday's polls.

Paul Risley, spokesman for the 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, said four UN helicopters and more than 350 UN trucks and jeeps were helping to transport tally sheets and ballot boxes from remote voting centres.

Besides the presidential candidates, 718 candidates are standing for the 30-seat Senate and 64 seats in the House of Representatives.

The presidential and vice-presidential candidates need 50 per cent of the votes plus one vote to win, otherwise a run-off will be held between the two leading candidates no more than two weeks after results of the first round are announced.

- REUTERS