The head of Liberia's election commission has resigned just a week before a planned presidential runoff vote, amid accusations he was biased in favor of current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
James Fromayan said Sunday he was stepping down because he did not want to stand in the way of a successful election.
He has previously said the accusations of bias are unfair.
A top official in the opposition candidate's party told VOA Sunday Fromayan's resignation is a step forward. But he said several other concerns must still be addressed before his party's candidate, Winston Tubman, will take part in the vote.
The opposition party wants a recount of ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election. The Congres for Democratic Change Party also is calling for an official investigation of video and photographs that it says are evidence of ballot-tampering and fraudulent vote-counting.
Electoral observers from the Carter Center and the Economic Community of West African States say the vote was "largely free and fair."
Tubman is a former Liberian justice minister and son of the most popular Liberian President in history. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a former executive in the United Nations. The nation suffered years of civil war after allegations that the Carter Administration supported a coup d'etat in the country in 1979 which ended only in 2003 when George W. Bush ordered the tyrant in power at the time to leave with the threat of two boats of Marines off the coast of the capital.
Tubman and President Sirleaf were the top two finishers in the October 11 presidential election, but neither won enough votes to avert the November 8 runoff. VoA
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