Liberians to vote in second post-war election

Liberians go to the polls on Tuesday in a tight race between Nobel winner President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and rival Winston Tubman as the nation seeks to cement its fragile eight-year peace. Final preparations for the key election were under way across the west African nation of four million people, which was shattered by a brutal 14-year civil war in which some 250,000 were killed between 1989 and 2003. "Deployment of materials from our magisterial warehouses has been completed, all the 2.5 million ballot papers have been distributed to the 4,457 poll places," poll commission chief James Fromayan told reporters. He said polls would open at 8am and close at 6pm, and counting would begin immediately with initial results expected late Tuesday night. There are 807 international and 4,383 local observers and security officers havebeen deployed around the country. Regional and UN forces have boosted security on the volatile border with Ivory Coast, where armed mercenaries from that country's recent conflict have been active, and election material was being sent across the country. The National Elections Commission is running the vote for the first time, as the 2005 elections were carried out by the United Nations. In the seaside capital Monrovia, normal daily activities resumed after fever-pitch excitement sent tens of thousands singing, dancing and chanting, into the streets on Sunday to mark the end of campaigning. James Victor Gbeho, president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission, which has sent 150 observers, called for a peaceful election. "I wish to urge all candidates and leaders of political parties to prevail upon their supporters to conduct themselves in a civil and disciplined manner in the remaining days of the electoral process, especially during voting and the post-voting period," he said during a press conference. Gbeho said the elections were "a real test of the process of further deepening democratic governance and national reconciliation after the protracted civil war and the return to civil rule in Liberia." Much is at stake in the presidential and legislative polls as Liberia seeks to shake off its anguished past and become self-sufficient enough to no longer need the support of an 8,000 strong UN peacekeeping mission (UNMIL). Sirleaf, whose campaign has been boosted by her Nobel Peace Prize announced Friday, is credited for rebuilding the economy and ushering in massive investments, in areas such as iron ore, palm oil and oil exploration. However the 72-year-old grandmother, who made history when she became Africa's first president in 2005, faces criticism at home, where extreme poverty persists amid an 80 percent unemployment rate. Her detractors, such as Tubman from the main opposition party, say she has failed to bring about reconciliation in a nation with a dizzying array of ethnic rivalries which still turn deadly from time to time. She has also failed to implement recommendations by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which name her on a list of people who should be barred from public office for backing warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor. Sirleaf initially promised to serve only one term, but has since said she did not realise the extent of the work required, and needs more time to rebuild the country. "You cannot rebuild a broken country in six years," Sirleaf, wearing a green hat and Unity Party scarf, told AFP on the sidelines of a rally on Sunday. "This country was totally destroyed. Dysfunctional institutions, destroyed infrastructure, no laws. So it took us time to rebuild and we have made a lot of progress ... we still have a few things to do and that is why we want to make sure we are re-elected." Some 1.8 million Liberians have registered to vote on Tuesday in Africa's oldest independent state, which was founded by freed American slaves in 1847. A total of 16 presidential candidates are in the running, and in parliament, 15 senatorial seats and 73 legislative seats are up for grabs.