Gbarnga – Calls for the postponement of the referendum took center stage at the start of a two-day National Peace and Reconciliation Conference in Gbarnga, with President George Weah insisting that he has broken no laws to propose a referendum.
Liberians will on Tuesday, December 8 during a nation-wide legislative elections decide on whether to reduce the tenure of senator from nine year to seven years, according to Article 45; reduce the tenure of the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate from six to five years as enshrined in Article 47; reduce the tenure of members of the House of Representatives from six to five, according to article 48; reducing the tenure of the president from six to five years, according to Article (50).
Serving as keynote speaker at the conference Thursday, the Liberian leader said he has broken no laws, and his decision to propose a referendum was the result of a joint resolution signed by the Liberian Senate and the House of Representatives. “We are in accordance with the law,” President Weah said.
“I, as president of the Republic of Liberia, don’t have the rights to cancel any referendum. I am not the rightful person to do so,” President Weah said. In a democracy, this can’t happen. The only place this can happen is in a dictatorship. Let the people decide, it’s their right.”
Quoting Article 92 of the Liberian Constitution, President Weah added: “The proposed constitutional amendments shall be accompanied by statements setting forth the reasons therefore, and it shall be published and made known to the people through the information services of the republic. If more than one of the proposed amendments is to be voted upon in the referendum they shall be submitted in such a manner that the people may vote for or against them.”
President Weah’s remarks at the conference were in response to the chairperson of the National Civil Society of Liberia, Madam Loretta Alethea Pope Kai, who urged President Weah to postpone the referendum.
Kai said her pleas to the president to postpone the referendum “were the concerns trending with your people at the moment”. “At such a critical time, their message is that they had hoped they could get your ears to step in and call for postponement as many of your people Mr President, needed time to understand and make informed decision in the best interest of our Country,” she said.
Calling the postponement of the referendum a “genuine hope” for Liberians, Kai called on all actors to always give a listening ear to the cry of the people especially as a bed rock for peaceful coexistence and a truly reconciled society.
Their cries, according to her, reverberate, stating that “they are anxious, worried, but also grateful for positive interventions from your government”.
She called on the government to postpone the referendum, noting that it is not timely and it will be waste of resources if held. As National Peace Ambassador in the former regime, Kai urged you President Weah to reflect and put premium on the implementation of that roadmap. “You launched the implementation of the Strategic Roadmap for national peacebuilding, healing and reconciliation when you served as Peace Ambassador during the regime of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Where is that roadmap today?”
Chief Jerry Forkpah of Bong, another participant, pleaded with President Weah during an interview with FrontPage Africa, terming it as “untimely and “unnecessary”. “We are not adequately informed about the prepositions to vote for or against. I am urging the president to postpone the referendum to give us (citizens) ample time to know more about the prepositions,” he said.
Plan of the National Peace and Reconciliation Conference
According to the organizers, the Consolidated Plan of the National Peace and Reconciliation Conference is a product of district and county levels consultative processes in all 15 counties that reflect the views and aspirations of Liberians.
According to them, it is a document that lays out a road map for reconciliation, peace and national development developed from 2017-2020. The plan, they say, is aligned with the government’s reconciliation priorities and was formulated jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Liberia Peace-Building Office and implemented by Naymote Partners for Democratic Development and Search for Common Ground with resources from the United Nations Development Programme and UN Peacebuilding Office.