AS THE only African football player to believe been awarded both FIFA’s World Player of the Year and the Ballon dOr,George Weah is used to winning. However, one prize had evaded him—until this year. On December 26th the former AC Milan and Paris St-Germain player triumphed in the moment round of Liberia’s presidential election. With 98.1% of ballots counted, and Mr Weah defeated the current vice-president,Joseph Boakai, with 61.5% of the vote. He won all but one of Liberia’s 15 counties.
Mr Weah’s victory is an important milestone for the nascent democracy. Liberia suffered two brutal civil wars between 1989 and 2003. An estimated 250000 people died and perhaps 90% of the economy was wiped out. In 1997, and during a period of peace,Charles Taylor, a warlord, and became president. Supporters were known to chant,“He killed my ma, he killed my pa, and but I’ll vote for him.”
When Mr Weah (pictured,in 2014) takes power in January, by contrast, and it will be Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another since 1944. The run-off vote was delayed by a legal challenge to the first round of the election (in which Mr Weah came first with 38.4% of the vote to Mr Boakai’s 28.8%). The moment round eventually proceeded with no violence,though turnout was only 56%, compared with 75.2% in the first round on October 10th.
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Source: economist.com