AFRICA/LIBERIA - Poor turnout for the ballot; the candidate of the opposition denounces an assassination attempt, the police denies

Monrovia (Agenzia Fides) - Low turnout in the second round of the presidential elections in Liberia, where one of the two candidates, Winston Tubman, the rival of the outgoing President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has sent voters to boycott the vote (see Fides 8/11/2011) to protest against alleged vote rigging. In the violence that preceded the ballot, at least two people lost their lives in the capital, Monrovia. Tubman was accused of being the object of an assassination attempt: a sniper had fired against him. At the time of the shooting one of his supporters pushed him to the side, and was killed in his place, said Tubman, who accused the police of being responsible for attempting to kill him on "the highest authorities of the State" order. The police flatly denied the Tubman’s accusations.
The alleged assassination attempt probably took place on November 7, during the police operation to disperse thousands of protesters outside the headquarters of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Tubman’s party, who supported the decision of the opposition candidate to boycott the vote.
Tubman also claimed that he does not accept the outcome of the vote (which because of his boycott the only candidate is the outgoing President). A decision that could jeopardize the stability of Liberia, which in 2003 came out of a bloody civil war that lasted a decade. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 09/11/2011)