A group of Liberian opposition parties said on Saturday they are pulling out of a recent presidential poll and threatened to refuse the results over allegations that election officials are skewing the outcome in favor of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Saturday’s statement was signed by eight parties, including those of second-place challenger Winston Tubman and third-place contender Prince Johnson. The latest partial results gave Sirleaf a narrow lead in the race.
In a statement, the group claimed “massive fraud being carried out by the National Elections Commission in the handling and reporting of the presidential election results in favor of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Unity Party.”
“We direct all our party agents assigned at [the electoral commission] in all capacities to withdraw effective immediately,” the statement read. “If the process continues we will not accept the results.”
The parties said they could offer photographs and witnesses to back their claims. They also called for a rally to be held yesterday, but did not specify a time or place.
International and local election observers said Tuesday’s election was peaceful and there were no major breaches in voting and no serious incidences of violence.
Electoral commission spokesman Bobby Livingstone did not immediately address the allegations.
“The commission is going to come up with a position on this later,” he said. “There may be some legal implications.”
Johnson and other politicians spoke after the statement was read.
“It is a sad day for Liberia,” Johnson said. “In 1985, when Madame Sirleaf won a seat in the Senate, she did not take it because she felt the election was rigged and that brought trouble to this country. Now, to see this strong woman who advocated for peace, justice, transparency and accountability to now be the one to rig elections through the election commission is sad thing indeed.”
Johnson, whose rebel army invaded Monrovia in 1990, videotaped himself ordering his men to cut off the ears of the country’s captured former president Samuel Doe, who later died.
Johnson has tried to refashion himself as a politician and became a born-again Christian after the war. He then went on to be elected senator of his home county.
On Saturday, he appealed to Liberians to remain calm.
Wilmot Paye, the secretary--general of the ruling Unity Party, said the party was not surprised by the allegations.
“What they have done today is something that we had anticipated,” he said. “They are doing this thing because it is not going their way. That’s why they want to create chaos.”
Meanwhile, Liberian election officials say the president’s narrow lead has decreased as vote counting continues. Results released late on Saturday represent 80 percent of polling stations and decrease Sirleaf’s lead by less than 1 percent to 44.6 percent. A majority is needed to avoid a runoff.
The Harvard-educated Sirleaf, who was Africa’s first democratically elected female president, faced 15 challengers. She is viewed abroad as a reformer and was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her role in stabilizing Liberia after a 14-year civil war.
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