MONROVIA (Reuters) – Liberian opposition leader Joseph Boakai is holding a slight lead in a run-off election with 50.6% of the vote over President George Weah’s 49.4% after tallied results from about 87% of polling stations, the West African country’s elections commission said on Thursday.
Boakai and Weah emerged neck-and-neck from the first round of voting in October but below the 50% needed to secure an outright victory, leading to a run-off on Nov. 14.
The election has been widely seen as a test of support for former soccer star Weah, 57, who was criticised in his first term by the opposition and Liberia’s international partners for not doing enough to tackle corruption.
Boakai, 78, who lost to Weah in the 2017 election, has campaigned on the need to rescue the nation from what he calls mismanagement by Weah’s administration.
(Reporting by Alphonso Toweh and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning)
