Monrovia – The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has told those political parties, which have taken the National Elections Commission (NEC) to court to stop crying foul.
Report by Willie N. Tokpah – [email protected]
CDC, through its chairman, Mr. Nathaniel McGill, told those shouting wolf that they don’t have sufficient pieces of evidence to justify their plead for a rerun of the October 10, 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections.
CDC Chairman McGill said despite some irregularities on the part of election workers, they do not amount to fraud that could call for a rerun of the process.
“We recognize the fact that there were challenges, there were some irregularities, the people intentionally cheated some people but there is no reason why there should be a rerun. “
“We don’t think the pieces of evidence amount to rerun of the election,” he emphasized.
But McGill wants these claims be established to proof the involvement of elections commissioners in the irregularities.
Speaking on the Truth Breakfast Show (TBS) on Tuesday, October 31, he noted that the establishment of fact from these allegations is important, since it could place the Liberty Party in a runoff with the CDC instead of a third place position.
According to him, some of these irregularities were deliberate attempts to cheat in the election process; something he said had an effect on the CDC as well.
McGill believed the number of people who turned out to vote on election day was encouraging despite complaints by others about the delay in starting the process.
“74 percent of the people turned out to vote; we think that’s a huge turn out.”
“There were individuals, who did some things that they were not supposed to do.”
“But to assume that the irregularities were sufficient enough to call for an entire rerun of the process, we don’t think so,” he stated.
He described call by the ruling Unity Party to reconstitute the entire board of commissioners at the NEC as an attempt to undermine the peace and democracy of Liberia.
The CDC chairman believed parties have their rights to complain about being cheated but remind them of the huge amount that have been invested in the ongoing electoral process, which might be undermined by a call for a rerun.
A reelection process, according to McGill, might derail the peace and democracy, noting that only a free and fair process can protect the country’s democracy.
The CDC official maintained that it is no doubt that the move to place a stay order on the runoff process would bring about interim leadership, which according to him, the Unity Party is holding on to.
He further stated that said action might lead to chaos since there would be struggle to structure a new leadership.
McGill: “I think the Unity Party is in a weak position; they are losing this election. They are crying foul and they want confusion.”
He used the show to call on his party’s supporters and others to desist from acts that would plunge Liberia into constitutional crisis.
“We like to assure our partisans that the CDC will do nothing to undermine the peace and democracy that we still enjoy and we are committed to the Farmington River Agreement.”
Chairman McGill vowed that his party wouldn’t support a rerun on grounds that they are in high gear to win the run-off.