GEORGE WEAH AND BOAKAI AHEAD IN LIBERIA POLLS

George Weah

Liberian presidential candidates George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boakai dominated provisional results released by the country's National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Thursday.

The results, however, shows that a vast majority of votes are yet to be counted.

First round

According to analysts, former world best footballer Weah and Boakai are expected to top the first round of voting, though former Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings is considered to have eaten into their support.

Bong county, the only county with more than 30 percent of votes counted, showed Boakai and Weah neck-and-neck with a slight advantage on Weah's side.

Weah was also leading in Montserrado county, his stronghold, which although just 14.8 percent of ballots have been counted dwarfs Liberia's other counties in representing 778,000 voters.

Run-off

If no candidate wins over 50 percent of the presidential vote nationwide, a run-off between the top two contenders will be held on November 7.

Chairman of NEC Chairman, Jerome Korkoya said the commission was committed to the release of timely results but this cannot be done at the expense of accuracy.

He said the commission has not declared any winner, stressing that the results remained too partial to declare a runoff.

Announcement delay

Given the delays, the European Union observer mission had urged the NEC to be as open as possible about the details of the final results.

Speaking to newsmen in Monrovia, chief observer of the EU's Election Observation Mission, Maria Arena said: "In order for the final result to be credible, the Liberian authorities will have to show the greatest transparency regarding the handling of the result for the polling stations until the validation."