MONROVIA, Liberia – Liberia’s presidential election looked likely to go into a run-off after nearly complete provisional results on Monday showed President George Weah and opposition leader Joseph Boakai were nearly tied in the race for the presidency following a October 10 election.
Boakai holds a slim lead at 43.70 percent of the vote, while Weah has 43.65 percent, according to tallied results from 92.8 percent of polling places, the West African nation’s election commission said.
To avoid a run-off, the winner must secure more than 50 percent of votes cast.
Weah, a former soccer star, who came to power in 2017 on a wave of popular support after two unsuccessful attempts, had pleaded with voters to give him more time after a first term marred by corruption allegations and continued hardship, many still need convincing.
Weah, 57, had a storied athletic career, rising from the slums of Liberia to the summit of world soccer playing for top clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.
His main challenger is former vice president Boakai, 78, whom he defeated in a runoff in 2017 and who is known as “Sleepy Joe” for allegedly falling asleep at public events.
Weah has built hospitals and introduced free education in a country still struggling to emerge from two devastating civil wars between 1989 and 2003, and a 2013-16 Ebola epidemic that killed thousands.
But some voters say they are disappointed by his failure to improve living standards or tackle corruption and a growing narcotics problem among destitute youths.
