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01.09.2011 Liberia

Liberians vote 'no' to constitutional changes: official

By AFP
A man casts his vote on August 23 in Monrovia during Liberia's constitutional referendum.  By Zoom Dosso AFPFileA man casts his vote on August 23 in Monrovia during Liberia's constitutional referendum. By Zoom Dosso (AFP/File)
01.09.2011 LISTEN

MONROVIA (AFP) - Liberian voters have rejected a raft of highly contested constitutional changes at a referendum, the electoral commission announced Wednesday.

The stickiest proposed change was to shorten from 10 to five consecutive years the amount of time that presidential and vice-presidential candidates would be required to have lived in Liberia.

The existing clause was suspended in 2005 elections as most candidates had just recently returned from post-war exile.

While more of those who turned out to vote in the referendum on August 23 backed the move than opposed it, by 292,318 votes to 246,473, the measure was nonetheless defeated as the 'yes' vote fell short of the necessary threshold of two-thirds of votes cast.

"On the basis of the (34.2 percent) turnout rate, to be validated each proposal would have to reach the barrier of 410,469 votes", said national electoral commission vice-president Elizabeth J. Nelson, announcing the results.

The three other proposals were also rejected.

"This therefore means that all the four propositions were not ratified. The Liberian people have spoken and their decision and wishes must be respected," said Nelson.

Observers say that if the nationality change had been approved, it could have opened up the field to more opposition parties and increased President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's chances of re-election.

It could also have disqualified some candidates such as Reverend Kennedy Sandy, of the Liberia Transformation Party (LTP) who had lived in America since 1989, recently returning to run for office.

Football legend George Weah could also have been counted out as he left to study in America after criticism that he was not well-educated enough to be in office after losing to Sirleaf in 2005 polls. He is the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change's (CDC's) vice presidential candidate.

Another proposed constitutional change would have raised the retirement age of supreme court judges from 70 to 75. This proposal was soundly rejected by the voters, with 221,163 backing it and 322,223 opposing.

Another key change would move the election date from October 11 to November 8, which would avoid a vote during the rainy season and shorten the time until the official inauguration in January, for security reasons. Here the 'yes' camp also garnered the larger share of votes but not enough to effect a constitutional change.

The final change, also rejected, aimed to do away with expensive run-off elections in local and legislative polls, instead electing public officers in a single round.

Liberia is still recovering from successive civil wars which destroyed its economy and infrastructure and left some 150,000 dead between 1989 and 2003.

A total of 1,798,930 electors were eligible to vote and 615,703 did so, a turnout rate of 34.2 percent.

© 2011 AFP

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