Monrovia – The ruling Unity Party in Liberia is reportedly considering pulling itself out of contention from the November 7 runoff Presidential elections, FrontPageAfrica has learned.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Multiple sources have confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that the party which has governed the post-war nation for the past twelve years officially filed a complaint titled “Intervention” in the Liberty Party Case, Saturday.
The Liberty Party already has a case before the high court citing several irregularities including the late Opening of Polls and the denial of thousands of Liberians from exercising their voting rights.
The party said: “Pursuant to Articles 77(b) and 80(c) of the Constitution, Section 4.8(2) of the enabling Elections Law, Article 6 of the Regulation on Polling and Counting provide that voting shall commence at 8:00 a.m. and close at 6 p.m., provided that the last person in queue at 6:00 p.m. shall be permitted to vote.
The NEC failed to adhere to the said Regulation and in many instances the polls were opened late, and in some cases, as late as 3:00 p.m., clearly to the detriment of the registered voters, many of them members of Liberty Party, who had shown up to exercise their constitutional right and political franchise.
The consequence of the late opening of polls by the National Election Commission was that most voters, especially the elderly, disabled, and infirm, after having stood in line for hours, were effectively deprived of their constitutional right to vote, as they were constrained to leave the polling places, believing not only that such polling places would not be opened, or that the location of the polling places had been changed, as was done in other cases, but also that such act by the NEC, may have created or could have created health problems for them.
The Commissioners are requested to take judicial notice of the fact of the late opening of the polls in certain areas of the country, which was common knowledge and which the Commission itself acknowledged.”
Liberty Party also attached to its findings copies of the European Union Observation Report, and Carter Center Preliminary Statement on Liberia Election, particularly relating to “Undue aggravations in finding their Polling Place ultimately resulted in frustration and tension.”
On Saturday, Rep. Edwin Melvin Snowe, a campaign chair for the Boakai campaign confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that a complaint has been filed with the National Elections Commission and not the Supreme Court as is being speculated. “A filing with the elections commission is the first step,” Mr. Snowe stated.
Despite the filing, Mr. Mo Ali, National Assistant Secretary General for Press, Publicity and Outreach and the party’s Official Campaign Spokesman, said in a statement Saturday, that a decision has not been reached regarding the party’s participation in the runoff.
“The Unity Party and the JNB 2017 Campaign inform all of the Unity Party partisans, supporters, sympathizers and well-wishers that the party has had no discussion about not participating in the runoff. We are going to participate in the runoff and we should all continue with our campaign.
Those that are engaged in sending out such information are DETRACTORS that are intending to create the situation in which our partisans and supporters will not turn out to vote. Our people will come out in their numbers on the 7th of November to vote JNB as the next president of Liberia. We are more than prepared!”.
It is unclear what basis the party is said to be raising contention but sources close to the party hierarchy say the party has lost faith in the current leadership of the National Elections Commission. Another source said also that several illegal ballot printing machines were arrested by police in Nimba Friday night although FrontPageAfrica has not been able to confirm.
The UP finished second after the first round of voting behind the Coalition for Democratic Change(CDC) in the October 10th, 2017 Presidential and Representative Elections.
The results ensure a runoff faceoff between football legend George Manneh Weah of the CDC and Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai of the Unity Party, UP slated for Tuesday November 7, 2017 after both parties obtained the highest number of votes cast on October 10.
Weah obtained a total of 596, 037 votes, constituting 38.4 percent while Joseph Nyuma Boakia who obtained a total of 446, 716 votes, amounting to 28.8 percent.
Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine of the opposition Liberty Party, obtained a total of 149, 495 votes, amounting to 9.6 percent, followed by Senator Prince Y. Johnson of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, MDR who got a total of 127, 666 votes, constituting 8.2 percent, while Alexander B. Cummings of the Alternative National Congress, ANC obtained a total of 112, 067 votes amounting to 7.2 percent of the total votes cast on October 10, 2017.
The threat of boycott by the ruling party is reminiscent of the 2011 presidential elections when the opposition Congress for Democratic Change raised contentions about the results and threatened to boycott after the incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won the first round with 43.9% of the vote, followed by CDC candidate Winston Tubman with 32.7%.
Under the Liberian constitution, once no candidate received an absolute majority, the candidates with the two highest totals face-off in a runoff ballot.
In 2011, the CDC, took a lukewarm posture to the second round runoff after Tubman alleged that the first round had been rigged in Sirleaf’s favor and called on his supporters to boycott the run-off.
On Saturday, FrontPageAfrica gathered that President Sirleaf who is on her farm for the weekend, had summoned Speaker Emmanuel Nuquay, vice standard bearer of the UP and campaign chair, Snowe for a meeting. Both parties are said to be cash-strapped for the runoff as finances run low.
The déjà vu scenario on the horizon could prove complicated for Liberia’s fragile democracy with many political observers fearing a Kenya election scenario now beginning to brace for the unexpected.
