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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Sirleaf poised for reelection in tense Liberia vote |
| 2011-11-09 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Liberia's Nobel-crowned president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was poised to win a second term Tuesday in a run-off marked by low turnout following a deadly shooting and her rival's boycott call. Sirleaf's challenger Winston Tubman cried foul after trailing Sirleaf in last month's first round but US President Barack Why can't I just eat my waffle?Obama dismissed his fraud concerns as baseless and scolded him over his boycott call. Whether heeding Tubman's call or shielding from a repeat of Monday's deadly incident, voters turned out in small numbers for an election that looked certain to return the 73-year-old Sirleaf. "I have come to vote but I am not happy for what happened yesterday, after all we are all Liberian and no one should be happy seeing other Liberians being killed," said Rita Queegbay, 39, one of only about 30 people at the Duport Road polling station. Sirleaf's fellow Liberian Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee turned out to vote, saying the election was a "defining moment" for her country's fragile democracy, just eight years after the end of a long and brutal war. "Liberians lived in fear for so many years and today people, regardless of the number of people ... have defied fear and intimidation and stepped out to vote," she told AFP. During a protest called by Tubman on Monday, at least four of his supporters were rubbed out following festivities that broke out with riot police when the rally was prevented from turning into a march. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Sirleaf has done well considering. She is a smart lady. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-11-09 13:42 |
| #1 From what I have heard and read of this matter, Tubman sounds like, "I can't win, so I'm going to take my marbles and go home." Liberia can't afford this kind of behavior. |
| Posted by: mom 2011-11-09 09:11 |