Monrovia – The Unity Party presented its chairman, Wilmot Paye, as the first of 15 witnesses before the hearing officer of the National Elections Commission in the on-going electoral fraud case.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
Chairman Paye Saturday took the stand to testify in the case Charles Walker Brumskine and Harrison Karnwea Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the Liberty Party versus The National Elections Commission (NEC) and the interveners Unity Party Joseph Nyumah Boakai Presidential and James Emmanuel Nuquay Vice Presidential candidates versus the National Elections Commission.
Taking the witness stand, chairman Paye told the hearing officer that prior to the October 10, 2017 Presidential and General Elections, the Unity Party wrote the NEC Board of Commissioners requesting a meeting to resolve some issues of concern, but that request was never granted.
Paye also told the hearing officer that like many other concerned Liberians who have called for the publication of the final voter roll, the Unity Party made request for the final voter roll, especially after the NEC announced that the people with voter ID will be allowed to vote whether their names were on the voters roll or not.
The Unity Party, considering itself as a party of interest, got involved in the Liberty Party’s case with the NEC through the Motion for Intervention on ground that the Liberty Party’s complaint also affected other parties that took part in the October 10 elections.
They also argued that by law, the NEC was under obligation to invite all the 20 participating political parties informing them of the case of electoral fraud brought against them by the Liberty Party. The UP came second to CDC in the October 10 elections with 28% of the total vote count to 38% while the Liberty party obtained 9.6%.
The case continues on Monday, November 13, 2017.
The runoff election remains on hold until the outcome of Liberty Party’s complaint.