Liberia’s supreme court has delayed until Friday a hearing on the country’s disputed presidential election, increasing the likelihood that an impending runoff vote will be delayed. A court spokesman told AFP late Wednesday that the hearing, which will challenge the electoral commission’s handling of the first round of the elections on October 10, would not take place on Thursday as planned for procedural reasons. It will now take place on Friday at 2pm (1400 GMT), the spokesman said on Thursday. Former international footballer George Weah and incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai face each other in the November 7 runoff. Neither gained more than 50 percent of votes in the first round.
Boakai has backed a legal complaint lodged by the opposition Liberty Party alleging “massive fraud and irregularities”, but has said he is still participating in the runoff.
The Supreme Court found on Tuesday that the country’s electoral commission had a case to answer arising from the Liberty Party complaint.
The election is Liberia’s first democratic transition in seven decades. Commentators describe it as a key test of stability after a 15-year nightmare in which an estimated quarter of a million people died in back-to-back civil wars.
Full Article: Liberia court delays vote hearing till Friday.
