MONROVIA, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet, by Liu Li, Lin Xiaochun) -- The youth brandishing AK-47 are gone. The people brandishing their voter cards will appear. On Tuesday, mineral-rich Liberia will hold elections, the first sincethe end of its 14-year civil war in 2003, to elect a president, with about 1.3 million people of Liberia's 3-million-population being expected to go to the polls.

    "The National Elections Commission (NEC) is confident that the months of work that NEC staff and international partners have been pouring into the electoral process will result in a successful election that all Liberians can be proud of," Frances Johnson-Morris, the commission's head, told a pre-election news conference.

    In a field of 22 presidential candidates, football legend George Weah and former World Bank female economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, nicknamed Iron Lady, are considered the two front-runners.Either one of them could make history if he or she wins the presidency.

    Weah, 39, the only African to have won a FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1995, believed he was the right person who can lead Liberia into rebuilding. "I am always successful in my work,"said Weah, at Sunday's evening dialogue with media in his party's headquarters, also the last one before the elections.

    But 66-year-old Johnson-Sirleaf, the first African female head of state if elected, said she is more competent for the job because she has more experience and was more educated. "I may be advanced in age but I am bringing young thoughts and would bring new ideas to the job," the Harvard-trained economist told Xinhua.

    Johnson-Sirleaf had run as a presidential candidate in the 1997elections, finishing second in a field of 13.

    Both of them promised that they would restore electricity, running water and schools, build roads, and attract foreign investors during their campaign, but neither of them elaborated onhow they would implement these promises.

    Weah and Johnson-Sirleaf are running neck-to-neck, and analystspredict that that the two may have to enter the second round within three weeks from Tuesday since the winner must obtain 50 percent plus one vote in the first round.

    Though endowed with gold, diamond, iron ore, timber and fertilesoil, Liberia's economy has been devastated by the 14-year civil war that claimed some 250,000 lives and made about one million refugees.

    About 80 percent of its people are still illiterate and a similar percentage unemployed. On average, they survive on 150 US dollars per year. In Monrovia, the capital, for example, people are gradually reviving their lives, they are yet to experience thepre-war life of access to electricity, running water and convenient transport. There are still scars of the war as bullet holes can still be seen on structures along major streets.

    Tackling what has been described as "systemic corruption" whichhad largely contributed to political and socioeconomic instabilityin Liberia would be another challenge, analysts said.

    If security could be assured and corruption could be dealt with,according to Brussels-based think tank Crisis Group, Liberia couldregain its position as one of the more successful economies in west Africa.

    "Liberia could surpass Sierra Leone in all major indicators within three to five years and within ten years stand once again solidly ahead of other countries in the region," the group said ina report released in September.

    "But if the theft and impunity that have characterized the transitional government are not corrected, Liberia would likely follow in Sierra Leone's footsteps ... failing to create jobs for young men and sliding back into war by the end of the decade."

    There are also concerns that those who did not turned in their weapons could caused mischief during the period of the elections, although over 100,000 former combatants have been disarmed.

    But the UN Mission in Liberia, which has 15,000 peacekeeping troops in Liberia, had warned that it would deal robustly with anyone who attempts to cause trouble.

    "I am satisfied with the process so far," Jimmy Carter, a former US president and one of more than 400 international observers, told a press conference on the eve of the polls.

    "We see the intense commitment of the Liberian people to have an honest, fair, open and safe election." Enditem