After the election results were announced in Liberia: Car drives into crowd of people Israeli right-wing extremists want death penalty law for terrorists – next hurdle cleared

A bloody incident took place in the capital Monrovia during a celebration of the upcoming change of power in Liberia, West Africa. According to media reports, a car plowed into a group of partying supporters of Boakai in front of the headquarters of the Unity Party (UP), whose top candidate Joseph Boakai won the second election for president, on Monday evening. Ten people were killed and 20 others were injured, the Liberian Observer and news portal Front Page Africa reported, citing eyewitnesses. The driver, whose motive initially remained unclear, then fled on a motorcycle.

Shortly before, the electoral commission had announced the official final results of the presidential elections on October 14. Accordingly, incumbent and former world footballer George Weah lost with 49.4 percent of valid votes, Boakai received 50.6 percent. Weah had already admitted defeat on Friday evening and congratulated Boakai on his victory. He won the first round of elections on October 10 with twenty candidates by a small margin with 43.83 percent of the votes, ahead of Boakai with 43.44 percent.

Boakai served as vice president under Nobel Prize winner Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf from 2006 to 2018. The government of former football star Weah, who played for top clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan in the 1990s, has been linked to several corruption scandals. During the election campaign, both candidates promised new jobs and investments in the heavily indebted country’s infrastructure.

Despite its rich natural resources, the Atlantic Ocean coastal state is one of the poorest countries in the world. In addition to the economic problems, corruption and the slow processing of the country’s previous civil war crimes, which affected approximately 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003, are particularly burdensome. Most war criminals went unpunished. (sda/dpa)