Football star George Weah climaxed his presidential campaign in Monrovia Saturday night urging his supporters and the electorate to vote him into the nation's highest office during the forthcoming run-off election.

"It is time for a new order and it is time to reconcile and unite," Weah told thousands of his supporters at a football stadium in Monrovia following the previous nine-day campaigning in the rural areas.

"Don't be carried away by all the rumors you have heard about me," said the 39-year-old AC Milan striker and former FIFA world player of the year. "These rumors are intended to divide us."

Of late, the Press Union of Liberia had reprimanded some local media institutions for "ethical transgression" in their campaign coverage of the two candidates in the run-off election.

The Harvard-trained economist and Liberia's foremost female politician, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is challenging the football legend for the presidency.

But unlike the press coverage during campaigning for the first round of polling on October 11, some local media institutions have either been publishing or broadcasting what appeared to be propaganda items and articles bordering around "tribal sentiments and hate messages" against either one of the two candidates in the run-off election.

Notwithstanding, Weah told the jubilant crowd, "I am a peaceful man. No matter what they say, I am a true son of this community."

"I am your future and I am your destiny and Liberia shall rise again," he said, confident of winning the run-off election and amidst cheers. "Today you are making history and I am proud to be a part of this history."

Throughout the campaign, Weah, who rose from the slumps by dropping out of high school to take up a football career and became a millionaire, has had to confront his limited education which many have referred to as a factor contributing to his unsuitability for the presidency.

In response, he said: "qualification is not about credentials, it is about performance ... qualification is about changing people 's lives for the better and not about personal gains."

The crises in the country, he said, were due to marginalization of the people. Weah therefore said. "Trust me that I can push your policy on your behalf. I know great world leaders who are willing to work with me because of my honesty."

Campaigning for the run-off election officially ends Sunday. The electoral commission has urged the 1.3 million registered voters to turn out in large numbers on Tuesday.

Weah's challenger, 66-year-old Johnson-Sirleaf spent much of the day campaigning in rural Liberia.

Source: Xinhua