Following the release of preliminary results from this week’s runoff election, which showed opposition party candidate Joseph Boakai was leading him by just more than one percentage point, Liberian President George Weah announced his resignation on Friday.
Election officials said that, with 99.58 percent of the votes from Tuesday’s election counted, Boakai had 50.89% of the total, compared to Weah’s 49.11%.
The outcome was a stark contrast to the election six years prior, in which Weah defeated Boakai handily in the second round.
Weah made a concession speech ahead of the official results, coinciding with mounting worries about the deterioration of democracy in West Africa.
“The utmost respect for the democracy process that has defined our nation,” declared Weah.
“The voice of the Liberian people has been heard. They have spoken.”
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I implore you to do as I have done and accept the election’s outcome. In a speech to the nation, Weah stated that “our time will come again in 2029” and that Boakai “is in a lead that we cannot surpass.”
Remember that during the past few years, the West African region has witnessed a number of military coups, including one that occurred in Gabon earlier this year following a presidential election.
The 57-year-old former international football player Weah won the 2017 election on the basis of his pledge to combat poverty and promote the development of infrastructure.
