Monrovia – As Liberia moves closer to holding its third post-war election, the Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC), has joined other Liberians and politicians to differ with the Governance Commission’s recommendations to suspend a portion of the code of conduct.
Report by Edwin Genoway, – [email protected]
The Governance Commission (GC) is headed by Dr. Amos Sawyer, former interim president of Liberia.
Recently, the GC recommended in its report titled: “The Liberia Electoral System” released in February 2017 the suspension of Article 52 C of the Liberian Constitution.
Article 52c states “that a person wanting to be president should be resident in the Republic ten years prior to the election, provided that the President and the Vice–President shall not come from the same county.”
In the Executive Summary of the report under the caption: “Recommendations for Immediate Consideration”: Address the 10-year residency requirement stipulated in the Constitution. Twice ruled as inapplicable, there must be a pronouncement on this constitutional provision. Lead responsible parties: NEC and the Supreme Court.
Under the section “The Code of Conduct Ambiguous Rule of Exclusion,” the report further states: “As in the case of the 10-year residency requirement in 2005 and 2011, it is strongly advised that this rule be suspended and made inapplicable to the 2017 elections even if its constitutional validity is to be upheld.”
But the ECC Chairman Oscar Bloh said while the Election Coordinating Committee shares the view with many Liberians, there can be no peaceful and smooth political transition in the absence of the rule of law.
Bloh, however, differed with the GC recommendations, saying only the courts can decide whether or not a law is applicable or inapplicable in a given situation.
“In this case, the Supreme Court has the legal authority to decide whether or not the 10-year residency requirement for the presidency can be suspended or deemed inapplicable to the 2017 elections,” he told journalists at a news conference.
Bloh maintained that the rule of law is the surest path to which a peaceful election can be held. He said that it is only the court that can decide whether a law is applicable or not.
The ECC is a civil society platform that observes all aspect of elections in Liberia and works in partnership with the National Democratic Institute.
Bloh said while his organization shares the view with many other Liberians that the elections should be peaceful so that there can be a smooth political transition, it is also calling on all stakeholders to respect the “Rule of Law.”
“We have enjoyed almost 12 years of civil governance and it is deeply troubling at this stage in our democratic development to hear about calls for the suspension of a provision of the Constitution without proceeding with the legal process,” he noted.
Bloh said the provisions of the Constitution may not be responsive to the current political reality, but they remain the laws until Liberians can change them, saying to suspend a provision in the Constitution will require a national referendum.
“Let me also remind you that in 2011, the Supreme Court handed down an opinion on the 10-year residency clause based on a challenge from a political party on the eligibility of some candidates to contest, the Court ruled against the challenge but did not suspend the provision.”
He noted that the 2005 elections were special elections and at that time Article 52 C was suspended to allow everyone to contest and following the elections, the Constitution came into force in 2006.
The ECC Chair has also pleaded with political parties to reduce their primary fees to enable partisans of said parties to afford to contest, saying times are difficult.
“We are also pleading with parties to consider a reduction in the fees that are charged for those seeking to run in the primaries. These are hard times in our country and we calling on the political parties to charge reasonable fees that will enable our people mainly female candidates to pay.”