Third in presidential polls, Laureate and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will be supported, Prince Johnson announced. If the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) candidate won the vote and implemented the recommendations of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the former rebel leader said he feared being prosecuted for war crimes.

By Josephine Uwineza

"I have decided to join the Unity Party because the CDC officials have said that they will do everything to implement the TRC recommendations. Because I do not want to go to [the ICC in] The Hague. I prefer dealing with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who is also indicted by the TRC," Johnson said.
Even though the ICC has no investigations in Liberia, former president Charles Taylor is being tried by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) sitting in The Hague for supporting RUF rebels in the neighbouring country.
99.9% of votes were counted by Tuesday, giving Sirleaf 43.9% and Winston Tubman 32.7%. A run-off vote between the two is set for November 8. Prince Johnson's 11.6%, could prove valuable boost to Sirleaf in the next round of voting.
However Tubman still believes he can win the self-proclaimed kingmaker over to his side."I am still talking with him, and I believe that he will give us his support. The negotiation is going well. He hasn’t said yet that he is not coming to us," he said.

Adaptable
"I am adaptable ... I can change at any time," Jonhson said after a declaration before the elections stating he would support the CDC in an eventual second round. The result of the run-off will boil down to negotiations, and neither party will hesitate to "negotiate with the devil" to win Alvin Wright, analyst and lecturer at University of Liberia, said last week. "When it comes down to it really you're looking at the negotiation skills of both parties- who is going to come and sit at the negotiating table to give him what he wants? Don't forget he's a key player, he holds the balls right now to say whether the Unity Party can get into the chair or whether CDC can unseat the Unity Party."

Darling of the international community?
Sirleaf made history when she became Africa's first elected female president in 2005. She jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize shortly before the October 11 election for her work in rebuilding the country and boosting women's rights. Although the international community adores her, she faces criticism at home for her failure to implement the TRC report which highlights her shady ties to Taylor and suggests she might be banned from office.
Among the suspects, the same report names Johnson who was infamously filmed ordering his men to cut off the ears of former dictator Samuel Doe.
Sirleaf initially backed Taylor's efforts to overthrow Doe- which sparked the country's first civil war in 1989. She then became his fierce opponent when the full extent of his atrocities became clear.

Other side
Johnson on the other side was Taylor's lieutenant. He broke away to form his own rebel faction and said in a recent interview "Madame Sirleaf was our strong supporter."
While Sirleaf first promised to serve only one term, she has said she needs more time in office to continue rebuilding the "broken country". The second post-war elections are seen as key to cementing a fragile democracy which still relies heavily on an 8,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.

Smooth and peaceful
The UN and observers praised the first round vote as smooth and peaceful. However opposition parties including the CDC threatened to pull out of the process, claiming the vote had been tampered with. Claims of fraud raised tensions in the country still emerging from 14 years of back-to-back civil wars claiming a quarter of a million lives that finally ended in 2003.
Tubman has since confirmed he would take part in the second round election.