Monrovia: Liberia’s ruling party on Sunday announced a formal complaint against the electoral commission over the outcome of the October 10 presidential poll, days before a runoff involving its candidate, Vice President Joseph Boakai.
The Unity Party said it would join two other parties in seeking “a logical legal conclusion as quickly as permissible under Liberian law,” following the Liberty Party and All Liberian Party (ALP) in lodging complaints with the National Elections Commission (NEC).
A statement released by the three parties said the poll, which saw former international footballer George Weah take the most votes, was “characterised by massive systematic irregularities and fraud.”
The statement also accused incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, also of the Unity Party, of “interfering” with the election by meeting polling officials at her residence.
The meeting, which took place before the poll, “clearly amounted to interference with the electoral process and has no legal basis or justification whatsoever,” the parties said.
Boakai and Weah are due to contest the final round for the presidency on November 7 after no single candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote on October 10.
Liberia ruling party contests result of presidential vote
Liberia ruling party contests result of presidential vote
Germany takes delivery of Israeli-made underwater drone
- "The army said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date“
- The device was tested in the Baltic Sea
BERLIN: The German navy on Wednesday said it had taken delivery of an Israeli-made Blue Whale underwater drone intended for reconnaissance and detecting “hybrid threats at sea.”
The autonomous underwater vehicle, developed by Israeli company IAI together with German submarine- and warship-maker TKMS, was received in the northern port of Eckernfoerde, the navy said in a statement.
The army on its website said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date.”
The device was tested in the Baltic Sea, a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and NATO since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the army said.
Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its “hybrid war” in the strategic region — now bordered entirely by NATO members, with the exception of Russia — through airspace incursions and suspected sabotage of undersea cables.
TKMS said the Blue Whale was capable of “conducting reconnaissance operations, detecting targets above and below the sea surface, collecting acoustic information, and locating sea mines on the seabed.”
Israel and Germany have upped their defense cooperation in recent months and in January signed a security pact to expand joint work on counterterrorism and cyber defense.
In December, Germany approved a $3.1 billion expansion of a contract for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is Israeli-made and developed with US support.
