“Let Liberians and not President Sirleaf decide who their next president will be”
By Frank Sainworla, Jr. fsainworla@yahoo.com
The ruling Unity Party (UP) has accused its Standard Bearer Emeritus President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of engaging in “act of intimidation and inducement” which the party alleges has contributed to “massive fraud” in the October 10, 2017 elections.
UP, which is currently headed by Liberia’s Vice President, Joseph Boakai who came second to George Weah’s CDC in the first, launched the attack on President Johnson Sirleaf in a joint statement on 29 October in “solidarity with” the opposition Liberty Party (LP) of Charles Brumskine and All Liberian Party (ALP) of Benoni Urey.”
The statement, read to journalists by UP National Chairman Wilmot Paye, fell short of announcing a boycott of the pending November 7 runoff election.
It however reaffirmed the ruling party’s support for the LP, ALP and ANC’s complaints to the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the Supreme Court in which they claim “widespread systematic fraud.”
The Unity Party says it has “resolved to pursue this matter to its logical, legal conclusion; claiming that it has uncovered “many more startling revelations” of alleged vote rigging since the end of the October 10 polls.
“The magnitude of these allegations is alarming. Some ballots didn’t have serial numbers;” the UP Chairman said.
With barely 10 days to the runoff, the Supreme Court has yet to schedule a hearing into the complaints filed before it by the three political parties.
But the NEC Commissioner with direct oversight responsibility for October 10, 2017 presidential and legislative elections, Sam Joe told www.newspublictrust.com shortly after the joint UP statement that calls for rerun of the polls have no basis.
Joe admitted that corrective measures have since been taken to address sporadic irregularities. “I’m 100 percent sure that the process is credible;” He says.
According to the joint statement by the ruling party and other parties, President Sirleaf’s “secret” meeting with 19 election Magistrates and NEC Chairman Korkoya at her private residence shortly before she left for the UN last September points to interference by Africa’s first elected female President.
The UP and its new collaborating parties claimed that some Commissioners at NEC had advised the Chairman against holding such a meeting with the President but he did not heed.
They claimed that Sirleaf should be steering Liberia to a credible election outcome in the political transition instead of one growing out of “shackle of greed”.
“We can’t and will not accept an attempt to veer Liberia” off the path of stability;” The UP Chairman said.
Meanwhile, UP and its allies have passed a vote of no confidence in the NEC boss to preside over the holding of transparent and credible elections and question the outgoing President’s credibility to steer a durable transition.
“Let Liberians and not President Sirleaf decide who their president will be…NEC cannot conduct any runoff amidst massive fraud,” UP, LP and ALP declare in their statement.
Meanwhile, the Executive Mansion has so far not reacted to the statement.