Liberian Supreme Court to Rule on Presidential Runoff

Liberia's Supreme Court will make a ruling on the country's presidential runoff vote amid allegations of fraud.

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The court will decide whether to set a new runoff date or wait for a complaint lodged by the opposition Liberty Party to be resolved.

Third-placed Liberty Party candidate Charles Brumskine made claims of fraud and irregularities, effecting the intervention of the Supreme Court.

"Even if there is a delay, as long as it does not undermine the integrity of the entire electoral process, then the Liberian people will still have an opportunity to make their voices heard," said U.S.-based election observer Christopher Fomunyoh.

The major concern is that court delays may revert Liberia to an interim government under Article 64, which states: “Whenever the office of the President and of the Vice-President shall become vacant by reason of removal, death, resignation, inability or other disability of the President and Vice-President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be sworn in as Acting President until the holding of elections to fill the vacancies so created.

“Should the Speaker be legally incapable or otherwise unable to assume the office of Acting President, then the same shall devolve in order upon the Deputy Speaker and members of the Cabinet in the order of precedence as established by law.

“The Elections Commission shall within ninety days conduct elections for a new President and a new Vice-President.”

According to a FrontPage Africa report, citing Article 50 of the Constitution, the tenures of outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Vice President Joseph Boakai expires on Jan. 22, 2018.

Article 50 states: “The President shall be elected by universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for a term of six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections. No person shall serve as President for more than two terms.”

Runoff candidates, former international footballer George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Vice President Joseph Boakai of the governing Unity Party, were originally scheduled to face each other on Nov. 7.

"Hopefully ECOWAS can continue to make its presence felt, to urge the Liberian political leaders to play by the rules and not to do anything that would undermine the wishes of the Liberian people," Fomunyoh said of the Economic Community of West African States spearheading mediation.

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Both Brumskine and Boakai accused President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of "interference" and having a preference for Weah.

Weah and Boakai won 38.4 and 29.8 percent of the votes, respectively. Brumskine earned only 9.6 percent.

One security guard, T. Klon Maxwell, told AFP that Liberians are fearfully the country may descend into civil unrest if the country remains without a designated leader for long.

"Liberians are people who do not want problems. Liberians, we have fought 14 years of civil war in this country and we have realized what they have done to us."