Monrovia- With just few hours to Election Day, the Movement Against the Election of Representatives to the Senate of Liberia (MATERSEL) has reiterated its call for voters to reject all members of the House of Representatives contesting for senatorial posts.
At its last pre-election press conference, MATERSEL warned voters that casting ballots for any siting representative for a senate position is simply telling authorities to divert taxpayers’ money for building schools and roads to conducting ill-fated and artificial by-elections.
Excerpt of the group’s statement: “Voting any sitting representative to the senate of Liberia is like diverting your taxes that should be used for building good roads, schools, improving the agriculture sector, security and civil servant, amongst several others towards the enrichment of elements of backwardness who’re plunging state resources through the conduct of ill-fated and unwanted artificial by-elections and as such, MATERSEL says NO! Such tendency should be fought against vehemently as a means of signaling how disenchanted and dissatisfied we’re concerning the subject matter.”
The group continue: “Finally, MARTERSEL calls on every Liberian whose interest is to protect the interest of the motherland to join us in this indelible crusade of social justice and freedom. We must open our eyes on the existing reality and as such, we must stand up to speak out against them. We cannot repeatedly replicate mistakes and blame it on those we elect because we ourselves are the creation of the mistakes. The power lies in our hands and we must use it now.”
“As we gear towards the December 8, 2020 special senatorial and representative’s by-elections, let it resound greatly in our ears that no sitting representative should be allowed to create space for artificial by-elections anywhere around the country. Our economy is traumatizing, and we must Vote them out.”
There are several sitting members of the House of Representatives who are currently vying for seats at the Upper House. They and their supporters argue that their decision to contest seats in the Senate was constitutional.
But MARTERSEL condemned the ideology and described such behavior as humiliating, lackadaisical and has the audacity of dumping taxpayer’s money into the state of jeopardy.
It clarified that it is not “fighting the issue of the conduct of wanted by-elections as it’s been misconstrued by some bootlickers who slave masters are caught up in the escapable network of unreality but rather, we say NO to the continuous conduct of artificial bye elections.”
Further in the statement, the movement noted that it is aware that disability, death and impeachment, among others, are some factors that leads to genuine by-elections.
However, it is totally against a sitting lawmaker not ending his tenure and wants to contest another seat, thus opening room for what it called artificial by-election; and in the process, putting financial burden on national government and using tax payer’s monies for the conduct of artificial by-elections whereas the people are in abject poverty and are spectators to their economy.
“The movement sees it as a complete tragedy and doesn’t in anyway contribute towards the transmogrification of the state and as such, we’ll not negotiate,” the group said in the statement signed by its National Chairman, Richlue O. Burphy and General Secretary Denyuwa Eli C. Berrian.