-As ECOWAS observers meet Boakai and Weah
By our Reporter
The ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Liberia has rubbished a local daily report that the National Elections Commission (NEC) has prevented the ECOWAS Technical Team from entering its data room at the NEC headquarters in Monrovia.
“We haven’t received such report, we haven’t received such report” the head of the ECOWAS mission, Ghana’s former President John D. Mahama told www.newspublictrust.com on Wednesday.
President Mahama instead said the ECOWAS Technical Team, which has been asked to stay on in Liberia until the final results of the December 26 runoff elections are announced, has been closely working with NEC.
He therefore expressed surprise over the publication of the report in the Wednesday, December 27, 2017 edition of a local newspaper (DAILY OBSERVER).
ECOWAS meet Weah and Boakai
In another development, it has been revealed that the ECOWAS observer mission has held a meeting with the two presidential candidates in the runoff polls—Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP) and George Manneh Weah of the main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
The head of the ECOWAS mission, ex-President Mahama said “they both were pleased with the procedures” during the just-ended runoff election.
But the former Ghanaian President revealed that during the meeting, the UP complained of not being given the electronic copy of the recently clean-up Final Registration Roll (FRR) by NEC.
President Mahama said the mission explained to the UP that NEC only gave out the hard copy of the FRR and not the electronic copy for fear that it would have been tampered with.
He said at the meeting few other minor issues were raised by the candidates raised about security such an incident of a drive by stoning of rival supporters in a part of Monrovia.
But the head of the ECOWAS election observer told Journalists that they impressed on both parties about the need to exercise restraint.
“We told them we’ll be watching their conduct,” President Mahama said.