Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has pledged to involve opponents in her second term after winning a landslide victory in a poll boycotted by her top rival over fraud allegations. Newly-named Nobel Peace laureate Johnson-Sirleaf won 90.8 percent of votes according to tallies returned from more than 86 of the country's polling stations. More results are due on Friday.
But her victory was tainted by low turnout for Tuesday's poll, which highlighted simmering tensions in the West African country instead of solidifying the fragile gains made since 14 years of civil war ended in 2003. At least two people were killed as authorities broke up an opposition protest on the eve of the election and supporters of her main challenger, former UN diplomat Winston Tubman, have said they do not recognise Johnson-Sirleaf's win.
Her Unity Party's failure to win a majority in parliamentary elections held last month may boost the need for her to seek allies, although she has not specified whether that will run to government posts for Tubman or other opposition leaders. "I will reach out to all the presidential candidates. What I will offer them is not yet known," she told reporters on Thursday.
In a separate interview with UN Radio, she said the fact she was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize days before the first round of voting in October meant she now had to go "the extra mile" in promoting reconciliation. "We are going to reach out to everybody and ensure that they have a participation in what we do," she said.
Provisional turnout for the run-off was just 37.4 percent, barely half the first-round figure when excited Liberians queued in the rain to cast their ballot. International election observers say voting has been broadly fair, but the violence and the low turnout has prompted calls on Johnson-Sirleaf to do more to heal divisions.
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