Monrovia – The political leader of the opposition Liberia National Union (LINU) has described as unfortunate the ongoing power struggle at the Legislature.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway – [email protected]
Nathaniel Blama said it is unfortunate for lawmakers who are supposed to be making sound decisions and good laws to benefit the Liberian people are in continuous power struggle.
The LINU Political leader comment comes in the wake of increasing tension at the Capitol Building by some lawmakers calling on House Speaker Alex Tyler to step aside from presiding over plenary because he (Speaker Tyler) has been indicted by the criminal law court.
Speaker Tyler and many other past and present government officials were indicted by the court for their alleged involvement in the Sable Mining bribery saga.
Nathaniel Blama, who is among many other senatorial aspirants defeated by Senator George Weah in the past special senatorial election in Montserrado County, described the lawmakers’ action as a shame that they would not agree on common issues, saying the time has come to replace trouble lawmakers.
“I think it is a shame for our lawmakers who supposed to be making good laws are fighting among themselves at the level of the House of Representatives. It is also unfortunate for the Liberian people to have in the legislature lawmakers who are troublemakers,” he noted.
In an interview with the FrontPage Africa, Blama noted that the time has come to vote out all of the troublesome lawmakers who do not mean well for the Liberian people, saying his political party LINU is currently consulting in various counties to democratically replace the many troublesome lawmakers at the Capitol Building.
“LINU is consulting and engaging stakeholders in various counties, we will work hard to replace all of those troublemakers in the House of Representatives who do not want to do what they were elected by the people of Liberia.”
He however welcomed the idea of political parties uniting to go against the Unity Party (UP), but was quick to clarify that the LINU has not been a part of any big political meeting that was reportedly held among other political parties including the Liberty Party.
“It is not a bad thing to be united as political parties, but let it be clear that the LINU has never been a part of any so called big meeting that was held recently by some political parties, I also disagreed with those who say the opposition is not united. I think the goal or aim for any political party is to replace the ruling party,” he noted.
Commenting on the printing of new banknotes on the Liberian market, the LINU political leader said the Central Bank of Liberia has not done much in sensitizing Liberians about the new banknotes introduced by the CBL.
In the wake of the printing of the controversial new Liberian banknotes on the market by the Central Bank of Liberia, Blama has described as poor and weak the awareness and sensitization of the new notes on the market.
Blama said the CBL has not done well in sensitizing the people of Liberia about the introduction of the new banknotes on the market.
He noted that Liberia is the first country in the world that is using dollars that has introduced the five hundredth denomination as legal tender in the economy.
The LINU political leader noted that though the CBL has the authority to print banknotes on the market, sit has not done well in the sensitization of the public.
“While it true that the CBL has no authority to print new banknotes and put on our market, it is also unfair to the Liberian that the CBL has not educated the people properly about the new banknotes, the CBL has not done much to educate the public about the new banknotes, the people must know the money they are about to use,” he said.
The House of Representatives in time recent unanimously endorsed the printing of additional Liberian dollar banknotes which, it says, will strengthen the country’s reserve at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) and enable the economy to respond to the demands of the government and citizenry.
The lawmakers made the decision in accordance with their constitutional mandate as outlined in Article 34(d) of the Liberian Constitution.
The Article states: “The Legislature shall have the power to levy taxes, duties, imports, exercise and other revenues, to borrow money, issue currency, mint coins, and to make appropriations for the fiscal governance of the Republic…”
The House’s decision was prompted by a report from the Joint Committee on Banking and Currency; Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning; and Public Accounts and Expenditure.
The Liberian currency, the Liberian dollar, has significantly depreciated in terms of value on the exchange market, trading as low as L$91 to US$1, one of the worst in the recent history of the country.
It may be recalled that few months back, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wrote the Legislature, particularly the House of Representatives, requesting that the CBL be allowed to print banknotes. Former CBL Governor J. Mill Jones and the immediate past interim management of the CBL had also advanced a similar request.
The President in her letter said her decision for making the request was triggered by two letters sent to her by then Central Bank Governor Dr. J. Mills Jones and the current Deputy Governor, Charles Sirleaf.