Oct. 12, 2011
MONROVIA, Liberia, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Liberian people deserved praise for heading to the polls "in a calm and peaceful manner."
Liberians voted in presidential and parliamentary elections Tuesday. It was the second vote since the country's lengthy civil war and first election overseen independently by Liberian election officials.
Lines to vote were reportedly long and the vote went off with few reports of violence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a message issued through his office, "commends the people of Liberia for exercising their right to vote in a calm and peaceful manner." The election, he added, "is an important milestone in the efforts to consolidate peace and democracy in the country."
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, praised Liberians for their ability to demonstrate political maturity in their second post-civil war vote.
Observers note that in Liberia concerns about food trump any prestige Sirleaf may have gained from the Nobel Prize.
She squared off against former diplomat Winston Tubman, who shared the ticket with former soccer start George Weah, who lost to Sirleaf in 2005 elections.
There are roughly 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed across Liberia to secure the peace. Nearly 150,000 people died and another 850,000 fled to neighboring countries during the decade-long civil war in Liberia.
Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/12/UN-hails-Liberian-elections/UPI-34161318427543/.
MONROVIA, Liberia, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Liberian people deserved praise for heading to the polls "in a calm and peaceful manner."
Liberians voted in presidential and parliamentary elections Tuesday. It was the second vote since the country's lengthy civil war and first election overseen independently by Liberian election officials.
Lines to vote were reportedly long and the vote went off with few reports of violence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a message issued through his office, "commends the people of Liberia for exercising their right to vote in a calm and peaceful manner." The election, he added, "is an important milestone in the efforts to consolidate peace and democracy in the country."
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, praised Liberians for their ability to demonstrate political maturity in their second post-civil war vote.
Observers note that in Liberia concerns about food trump any prestige Sirleaf may have gained from the Nobel Prize.
She squared off against former diplomat Winston Tubman, who shared the ticket with former soccer start George Weah, who lost to Sirleaf in 2005 elections.
There are roughly 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed across Liberia to secure the peace. Nearly 150,000 people died and another 850,000 fled to neighboring countries during the decade-long civil war in Liberia.
Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/12/UN-hails-Liberian-elections/UPI-34161318427543/.
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