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Liberians began voting Tuesday on President George Weah’s plan to shorten presidential terms, and critics fear he may use the change to hold on to power.
Former soccer star Weah has told supporters that keeping the same leader for years is “not the way to go” and wants lower house presidents and lawmakers to serve five years instead of six; and senators seven years instead of nine.
But lowering term limits is a relative first for the region, where aging presidents have used constitutional changes to stay in power.
In Guinea, President Alpha Conde, 82, won a controversial third term in October after passing a new constitution that allowed him to circumvent a two-term limit.
Opposition politicians in Liberia fear that the 54-year-old Weah will attempt a similar move, although his office has denied the claim.
He was elected in 2018 and is still serving his first term.
Along with the vote on reducing the terms, Liberians are also choosing to repeal a 1973 ban on dual citizenship, a move that some hope could be an economic boon in the poor nation of 4.8 million people.
The country is still recovering after the back-to-back civil wars of 1989 to 2003 and the West African Ebola crisis of 2014-16.
Hundreds of thousands of Liberians are believed to be residing abroad, having fled war and poverty.
However, if they adopt another nationality, they are prohibited from owning property in the home, among other restrictions.
“I arrived at 5:30 am to vote yes for dual citizenship,” said Manuela Jackson, a 23-year-old college student who votes in the capital Monrovia, whose brother has US citizenship.
If voters choose to lift the ban on dual citizenship, Liberians with two passports will still not be able to hold elected office.
The referendum is held in conjunction with a mid-term senatorial election. About 2.5 million voters are registered, according to the national electoral commission.
The polls are scheduled to close at 6:00 pm and initial results are expected this week.
