UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has sent former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to support Liberia to peacefully transfer power to a democratically-elected president.
Guterres, who announced this today, Wednesday in New York through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, commended the peaceful conduct of the second round of the presidential election in Liberia.
Guterres asked Obasanjo, who is a member of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, to travel to the capital, Monrovia, tomorrow, Thursday, December 28 and to remain there till Saturday, December 30.
Obasanjo is one of 18 global leaders, senior officials and experts on the high-level board created earlier this year to advise the Secretary-General on mediation and back those efforts around the world. He was involved in mediation efforts in Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, among others.
The high-level board is part of the Secretary-General’s pledge for the UN to embark on a “surge in diplomacy for peace.”
Liberians yesterday, Tuesday, voted in a second round of elections, deciding between Vice-President Joseph Boakai and George Weah, a politician and former soccer star.
This would be Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically-elected leader to another in more than 70 years.
“The Secretary-General hopes that the will of the Liberian electorate will be respected and that a seamless transfer of power will take place within constitutional timelines,” the statement said.
The first round of elections in the West African country was held in October.
A runoff was originally scheduled for November, but was delayed due to allegations of voter irregularities by a third candidate.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in September, outgoing Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said that the polls would signal an “irreversible course” towards democracy in the country.
Sirleaf, the first woman elected as head of an African country, took office in 2006, ending a civil war that erupted under the leadership of her predecessor, Charles Taylor.
Source: NAN.[myad]
