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'Iron Lady' elected Liberia's president
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-24 14:27 Weah's Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party said it would continue to
contest the election result. "We have asked all our supporters to remain calm as
we pursue the legal channel," CDC chairman Cole Bangaloe told Reuters.
U.N. peacekeepers backed by armored vehicles guarded checkpoints in Monrovia
around the Centennial Pavilion building where the final election results were
announced.
CONGRATULATIONS
French President Jacques Chirac sent a letter of congratulation to
Johnson-Sirleaf.
"Liberia is today embarking on a new page in its political history ... I am
certain that under your leadership, it will find the path to national
reconciliation, institutional consolidation and prosperity," Chirac said.
Liberian President elect Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, center, after she gave an address to the nation in the
city of Monrovia, Liberia on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005.
[AP] | Johnson-Sirleaf's supporters celebrated with chants of "Go to school, go to
school, don't play football!" a reference to her blue-chip professional
qualifications, which include past jobs with the United Nations, World Bank and
Citigroup.
This compares with Weah's rags-to-riches career in which he rose to be FIFA's
World Player of the Year after being brought up in a Monrovia shantytown and
dropping out of high school.
Alan Doss, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Liberia, described
Johnson-Sirleaf's election win as "a historic moment not only for Liberia, but
for the continent as a whole."
"The road ahead will not be an easy one but she begins her journey with the
support of the Liberian people and the goodwill of the international community,"
Doss added.
He also praised Weah's "participation in the democratic process."
Johnson-Sirleaf has pledged she will use her technocratic skills to rebuild
Liberia and reconcile its people after the devastating civil war that killed a
quarter of a million people and left its infrastructure in tatters.
Although the conflict ended two years ago when former warlord and President
Charles Taylor went into exile, Monrovia and other cities do not have running
water or mains electricity.
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