Monrovia – As Liberians go to the polls October 10, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) says the choice of the Liberian people should be respected by all political parties.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
There are 20 presidential candidates and 986 persons are contesting for 73 seats in the House of Representative.
Which sums up to 1006 contestants, of which 163 are female, constituting 15.9% of the contestants something he described as a growing democracy?
CABICOL Secretary General Fr. Dennis Nimene said choosing a new leader is historic for Liberia.
“It is historic due to the fact that this will be the first time in the past 73 years for a sitting President to successfully and peacefully turn over power to another elected President.
“We the Catholic Bishops of Liberia join you in thanking God for reaching us to the threshold of this milestone achievement. We also thank all of you, citizens and residents of Liberia, members of the International Community for contributing and ensuring the prevalence of peace in Liberia for the past 12 years.”
It can be recalled the Pastoral Letter issued June 4, 2017 on Elections, “we reiterate our call for peaceful, transparent and violent free-elections. We call upon members of the National Elections Commission (NEC) and all those working with them, to remain professional and irreproachable.”
He also called on the media to abstain from sensationalism and divisive politics. “We appeal to the Youth to refrain from violence in all its forms.”
Fr. Nimene said in each democratic election, there are winners and losers reminding politicians to be committed to the Farmington Accord.