"I think Liberians want peace," says Pres Johnson-Sirleaf
“I think Liberians want peace, they want their basic needs met, and that will be our obligation and our commitment,” said Liberian incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf when she cast her vote in the one-horse race presidential runoff election on Tuesday.
President Johnson-Sirleaf expressed “deep sorrow and regret” over the violence which led to death on Monday at the headquarters of the main opposition, Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
The main opposition candidate Winston Tubman of the CDC, who should have been her challenger, boycotted the November 8 polls calling for replacement of the electoral body and investigation into claims of fraud during the first round on October 11.
WADR’s Reporters quoting poll workers in the capital and other parts of the country say the turn out was low. Some reports quote the figure at 25% voters turn out.
A statement from the Presidency in Monrovia received by WADR said, an investigation is currently being conducted, promising that perpetrators will be brought to justice.
The Liberian leader was speaking to reporters in her home, Fefeh town in Bomi county outside the Liberian capital, where she had travelled to cast her vote in Presidential run-off election.
President Johnson Sirleaf said she was pleased with the peaceful conduct of the polls and that she was hopeful thatthe election, the country will move forward.
The President said she believes that Liberians will find a way to move forward, heal the wounds and reconcile their differences.
Commenting on the mood of the country in the months leading to inauguration, the President said Liberians would continue to go about their business in a peaceful atmosphere, and predicted a bright future for the post war nation.
Liberia officially ended 14 years of one of Africa’s worst civil wars in 2003 that claimed the lives of an estimated 250,000 people. The just ended disputed runoff election is the first to be hosted by a democratically elected government.
Johnson-Sirleaf won her first term in the 2005 election, when she defeated George Weah’s CDC in the second round.
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