Liberia’s Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a presidential run-off election, ruling that it had not found enough evidence of fraud to halt the entire process.
The court dismissed a complaint from the third-place finisher Charles Brumskine’s Libert Party, which filled a case at the case with claims that fraud has undermined the first round of voting in October.
The ruling with see ex-footballer George Weah faces off against Vice-president Boakai in a vote that could mark Liberia’s first peaceful transition of power in seven decades.
“In the absence of sufficient evidence, the court cannot order a re-run of the election,” Justice Philip Banks said, reading out the court’s decision, Reuters reports.
The judge further said that over the 5,000 polling stations, presenting evidence of just a few was a problem.
“The evidence should have (shown) … that they were committed in such magnitude that they could have altered the results.” He said.
The winner of round two will replace Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as leader of the small West African country.
The delays caused by all the legal wrangling have ratcheted up tensions in a country still recovering from decades of civil war that killed tens of thousands.
However, a spokesman for the Liberty Party said it would accept the result.
“If we did not respect the judiciary, we would not have come,” Darius Dillion said. “Liberia has won, our democracy has won.”
The date of the run-off is yet to be confirmed.
