Displaced refugees will shun elelctions

Thousands of Liberians who fled their villages during 14 years of civil war say they will refuse to vote in October elections if they are left stranded in refugee camps.

Election fever is gripping the battered capital Monrovia ahead of the country's first post-war polls, with youths parading through town in convoys of cars and blocking traffic as they scream support for their candidates.

But civilians unable to return home after their villages were torched or looted during the war say the presidential and parliamentary elections have little relevance if they cannot vote for local leaders.

"We are not prepared to cast our ballots in this camp," said Stephen Musa, 48, chairman of the Wilson Corner internally displaced camp.
"I have told the election commission that if we are still living in this camp on polling day they should not bother bringing any election material to us," he said.