Monrovia – The Council of Patriots, organizers of a pending protest against President George Manneh Weah-led government has remained mute in the wake of yet another proposed date from the Ambassadors of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS).
In a statement Tuesday, the Ambassadors said after examining the various recent statements issued by the Government of Liberia and the Council of Patriots on the planned demonstration and following further extensive and encouraging discussions with all stakeholders on the postponement of the demonstration, it has endorsed what it says is a reasonable outcome, with a proposal as Saturday, January 4th, 2020 as the new date for the protest.
“In this context and in the interest of general public order and safety, we respectfully call on the Government to provide appropriate security protocol guidelines and measures for the event as was done for June 7, 2019. We note with deep satisfaction the efforts of all parties to uphold the principles of peaceful coexistence under the Rule of Law and in consonance with the Constitution of Liberia. We exhort all Liberians to continue on this path of promoting good governance through their national institutions and individual actions. “
Ambassadors of US, EU, ECOWAS, UN
The COP had rejected the initial proposed date of January 5th, 2020 because it falls on the First Sunday of the new year.
“Liberia, being founded on a Christian principle, Sunday is a religious day in our country and to protest on Sunday is not feasible,” Senator Abraham Darius Dillon said. “If we to come out and demand accountability from our government, it will not be on a Sunday and we will even advise, it will never be on a Friday again – because it’s a Muslim day, since we are taking the religious aspect into consideration. The 5th of January is not feasible, we are demanding the 6th. This protest is not canceled, it is only postponed on the intervention of the international partners.”
The Ministry of Justice had argued that protesting on a regular weekday would lead to disturbance of work and school flow. “When the government ultimately issues its permits for the public gatherings at times alternate logistical arrangements that differ from the original request will be offered, for example when the duties of the state to balance the rights of all citizens takes precedence over the preference of one group. For example, in general mass demonstrations should not take place on weekdays on a capital city’s main roadway when to do so would cause greatest disruption to educational, governmental and healthcare functions and commercial activities.”
The Ambassadors said the initial proposed dates of 5th and 6th January 2020 have been determined to be inherently problematic for holding a peaceful mass assembly.
In this light, the Ambassadors noted that in order to accommodate the desire of the people for immediate redress, it leaves Saturday 4th of January 2020 as the best viable option.
In line with the experience of the peaceful assembly that was held on June 7, 2019 at the Capitol Hill, the Ambassadors have suggested the 4th January 2020 peaceful assembly to be approved to be held in the same venue.
Said the Ambassadors: “In this context and in the interest of general public order and safety, we respectfully call on the Government to provide appropriate security protocol guidelines and measures for the event as was done for June 7, 2019. We note with deep satisfaction the efforts of all parties to uphold the principles of peaceful coexistence under the Rule of Law and in consonance with the Constitution of Liberia. We exhort all Liberians to continue on this path of promoting good governance through their national institutions and individual actions.
The protest initially scheduled for December 30th was put off following a late intervention from the Ambassadors of the four stakeholders.
The COP agreed following the postponement that the call from the international community impacted its decision to postpone the protest.
At an emergency press conference held on Monday morning at Roots FM, Mr. Henry Costa, Chair of the COP said he had received a phone call from the UN Resident Coordinator at about 11:45 pm on Sunday informing him that he along with the U.S. Ambassador and the ECOWAS Ambassador had made a case to the government that it was unacceptable for the government to arbitrarily postpone the protest. “The Council of Patriots wants to make it clear that it has not made any decision to call off the protest, it is the intrusion of our foreign friends which they say they do out of our interest for our safety because of the threat level in our country,” the COP chair said.
Contacted late Tuesday, both Mr. Costa and the COP’s Secretary General Mo. Ali said the COP had not reached any decision on the new proposed date.