Monrovia – Two members of the Liberian Senate have blamed the Legislature for the current bad economic situation being faced by the country.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
According to Senators Oscar Cooper and Sando Johnson of Margibi and Bomi Counties respectively, things are what they are because the Legislature has failed to exercise its oversight obligation given to it by the constitution.
In separate statements each made on ‘The Costa Show’, they accused the leaderships of the Legislature of which they are part, of being compromised by the Executive Branch. According to Sen. Cooper specifically, most of his colleagues are afraid to speak out of fear of losing election in the 2020 midterm senatorial elections.
“People are elected to the legislature on party ticket, but they go to the Legislature with self-interests not the ideologies of their respective parties. Now, parties which have lost, need to come and pull their resources together to do checks and balances on this government.
“There is no party in the legislature; it is all personal interests. It is amazing that there is no opposition,” Sen. Cooper emphasized.
The Margibi County lawmaker also proposed an amendment to the constitution to give authority to political parties to have the power to withdraw members of the legislature who go against party ideologies.
Sen. Cooper, who also claimed that the current state of the economy shouldn’t be entirely blamed on the George Weah administration alone, joined others to call for a united opposition front in pending elections.
“We need to put pressure on this government to abide by the rule of law because if the bubble bursts, it will splash on everyone, no blame game. It wouldn’t be the President alone,” the Margibi Senator warned.
Speaking also, Bomi County Senator Sando Johnson claimed that bulk of his colleagues contesting for re-election will throw their characters “under the bus.” According to him, they fear that they cannot win re-election without the support of the regime in power.
“Because of 2020 midterm election, people want to put their characters under the bus. Some people believe that they cannot make it all by themselves unless people hold their hands. The Senate will not be as it should be until after the election.
“Senators going for election may not be ‘man enough’ to do what is right because they are scare. Let us do what is right and our people will judge us; don’t wait until people hold your hands. There are certain senators being blacklisted and I am one of them,” Sen. Johnson, whose political party – National Patriotic Party (NPP) – though being a member of the ruling Coalition, yet he remains a critic of the regime.
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