Turnout high as Liberians choose Sirleaf successor

Monrovia (AFP) - Liberians turned out in force on Tuesday to choose a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in a contest set to complete the country's first democratic transition of power in more than 70 years.

Queues of people snaked through the streets of the capital Monrovia as voters waited patiently to cast their ballot, capping a campaign hailed for vibrant and violence-free debates and rallies in the small West African nation.

"I would think the turnout was very high," commented Jerome Korkoya, Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), speaking around 1530 GMT.

Some voters who appeared at the wrong polling place or were registered more than once were unable to cast their ballot, he admitted, without putting a figure on those affected.

Voting closes at 1800 GMT and an NEC official told AFP the first results could be known as early as Wednesday afternoon.

The vote is crucial test of Liberia's stability. Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected head of state, is stepping down after a maximum two six-year terms in which she steered the country away from the trauma of civil war, but, say critics, failed to tackle its poverty.

The country's 2.18 million registered voters are choosing from a crowded field of 20 presidential candidates -- although just one of them is a woman -- and will also elect 73 seats in the lower chamber, the House of Representatives.

Frontrunners include footballing icon George Weah, incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai, longtime opposition figure Charles Brumskine and former Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings.

Also waiting in the wings with potentially significant vote shares are telecoms tycoon Benoni Urey and former central bank governor Mills Jones.

"Whatever the result I will accept it," Boakai said, hailing the high turnout after casting his vote in the suburb of Paynesville.

Weah, surrounded by cheering supporters, declared he would seek to end the divisions that cleave Liberian society and added his "love for this country will make me a good president."

Back-to-back civil wars, the 2014-16 Ebola crisis and slumped commodity prices have left Liberia among the world's poorest nations, while corruption remains entrenched.

Ghosts of civil war

For his army of supporters, football legend George Weah is the 'chosen one' for Liberia. But the race could be close -- a runoff is likely on November 7

In Monrovia, the poorest voters seem to overwhelmingly favour Weah, although his choice for vice-president Jewel Howard-Taylor, the ex-wife of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, may hit his support in other areas of the country.

The ghosts of Liberia's bloody past are hard to avoid in this election.

Ex-rebel leader Prince Johnson is also running for president, though a fifth of Liberia's registered voters are aged 18-22 and are less likely, analysts say, to vote along the ethnic or tribal lines that divided the nation during the war.

'New breed of leaders'

"Don't vote because of tribalism or religion or all of that. Vote who you think has the capability, has the means to build on my legacy," Sirleaf said after casting her own ballot.

If no candidate wins 50 percent of the presidential vote, then a run-off of the top two contenders will be held on November 7 -- an outcome analysts say is a near certainty.

Boakai, Weah's most significant rival, has undertaken a delicate balancing act to promote his record in government while distancing himself from Sirleaf to define his own vision.

Samuel Gbazeki, 64, said he was impressed with Sirleaf and Boakai's record of keeping peace, and was voting for continuity, in line with many older voters.

"To rebuild after war is very costly. This government has done some tremendous things," Gbazeki commented, waiting near the end of an hours-long queue.

Close scrutiny

Upstart businessman Cummings has eaten into Weah's support among Liberia's youth, and his fans were also out in force across polling stations.

"We need a new breed of leaders. Mr Cummings is educated and that is what Liberians need most. Education brings insight," pastor Fred Slocum told AFP, joining a line at William V.S. Tubman high school.

Cummings told journalists he was "proud to see my fellow Liberians voting peacefully and respecting their neighbours."

Regardless of the result, the international community is keen to see Liberia's history of coups, assassinations and exiled dictators shift to a more stable footing after 12 years of peace under Sirleaf.

Liberia has won praise for a lively, yet so far peaceful, campaign in a country that was scarred by years of civil war

Hundreds of electoral observers are overseeing the process, from Liberian political parties, civil society groups, the regional body ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and the United States.