The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has elected Winston Tubman as its presidential candidate for the October elections, with its former head and runner-up in the 2005 elections, George Weah, as the vice-presidential candidate. Mr Tubman, the former UN representative to Somalia and previously head of the Liberian National Union (LINU), won 118 votes to Mr Weah's 111 in a US-primary style election at the party's third national convention. Despite the public election, many observers both inside and outside the party believe that the outcome was fixed in advance; the party leadership allowed Mr Tubman to circumvent the rules, which stipulate that an individual has to be a party member for two years before he is eligible to stand for high office, and it was reported in some local newspapers that Mr Weah agreed to relinquish his position.

A Tubman-Weah alliance looks formidable, although the order in which they appear on the ticket is surprising. Any alliance is an achievement for the opposition, which has been trying to mount a more united challenge to the president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and her Unity Party. A recent attempt broke down because of the unwillingness of Mr Weah to stand aside and allow Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party to be the presidential candidate (December 2010, The political scene). Mr Weah had good reason to believe that he should be at the top of any presidential ticket, having won the first round of the presidential election in 2005, while Mr Brumskine was third and Mr Tubman a distant fourth. However, it appears that Mr Weah is now prepared to rein in his own personal ambitions for the sake of the party's chances of electoral success, an unusual event in Liberian politics, which is often marked by personal ambition.

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