UN troops cordon Sirleaf’s residence
GLENNA GORDON/AFP PHOTO
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (L) addresses a crowd of supporters on October 15, 2011 outside offices of her party on the outskirts of Monrovia that had been set alight overnight in a suspected arson attack.
MONROVIA, Sunday
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s official residence as well as the offices of the National Election Commission has been cordoned by police due to rising tension in the capital, Monrovia.
A statement by the police said the two premises will remain cordoned throughout the electoral process which will end with the declaration of the final poll results on October 28.
The two premises were cordoned off on Friday by a joint UN Mission in Liberia and the local police following plans by the leading opposition party and ‘‘certain individuals’’ who intend to demonstrate in Monrovia against the partial poll results.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Ms Sirleaf’s party vowed that she will contest a run-off presidential vote even if the opposition boycotts the polls, fanning fears of new violence in the war-torn country.
“If the opposition wants to boycott the process, that will not stop the process,” Unity Party campaign director Musa Bility said after the opposition on Saturday rejected as “flawed” provisional results of the October 11 vote placing Sirleaf in the lead.
“For us there will be a second round” between Sirleaf, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize co-winner, and former diplomat Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change, Mr Bility said. “It will be the CDC and the UP.”
On Thursday, Mr Tubman complained that 800,000 fake ballots were ‘‘fraudulently’’ introduced into the polling stations on Tuesday and called for an immediate investigation.
