Editorial: Runoff election does not mean war

Liberian voters are bracing themselves for a runoff between President George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, who both received the highest number of votes but did not obtain the legally required 50 percent plus one extra vote, to win the Presidency.

Official results announced by the National Elections Commission as of Thursday, October 19, 2023,  put President Weah ahead with 43.84 percent of the votes against his main rival Ambassador Boakai, with 43.43 percent, thus a need for runoff to determine a winner.

This is not strange, both parties participated in runoff in 2017, when the UP narrowly lost to the CDC, earning Mr. Weah his first term in the Presidency. There will be a winner in the pending runoff now that the Presidential race has been cleared of the crowded candidates that characterized the first round.

But Liberians need to reflect on the peaceful atmosphere under which the October 10 elections were generally held across the country, as they prepare for the second round in order to maintain the admiration this country just won for itself in the just-ended historic elections.

We’re talking about the peace and stability of the Motherland. Election should not put us at one another’s throats in self-destruction just for the sake of a particular candidate or political party.

We behaved so well at the ballot in the first round, leaving international observers raining praises, absolutely there should be no reason to abandon or to depart from such spirit in the runoff.

We urge both President Weah and Ambassador Boakia to talk to their partisans and supporters as they ready for a second showdown. The runoff is not meant to bring Liberia to end or on its knees but to elect a leader that governs the country for another six years.

It is you the Liberian voters who have the power to make such decision through your votes. Exercise this power void of coercion and violence because you owe it to yourselves, your children and posterity.  

Parties and presidents will come and go but Liberia remains the only common patrimony that we all belong to. We should not trade this nation for any politician or selfish interest.

We would have kept our admiration in the region by demonstrating in the runoff that Liberia is bigger than any party or candidate to be traded anyhow. Let’s prioritize peace.