-NEC needs it to get Weah, Jewel Taylor’s replacement
By Alloycious David
The ascendency of Senators George Weah and Jewel Howard-Taylor of Montserrado and Bong Counties to the presidency and vice presidency will cost the bleeding national coffers nearly US$4 million to get their replacements.
National Elections Commission (NEC) on Monday disclosed that it urgently needs US$ 3.9 million to conduct by-elections in Bong and Montserrado counties to fill the vacancies created at the Legislature by the election of Senators Weah and Taylor as President and Vice President, respectively.
Figures produced last week by the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Liberia backed pronouncements made by the new President Weah that the government is broke, with bank balance as low as US$5m.
NEC’s Chairman Cllr. Jerome G. Korkoya said the on February 13, 2018 it received a formal notice dated February 1, 2018 from the Senate informing the commission of the existence of two vacancies at the Senate.
According to him, pursuant to article 37 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, the National Election Commission shall not later than 90 days thereafter (February 13) cause a by –election to be held to fill these vacancies.
He noted that based on the notice from the Senate, a steering committee was set-up on February 14, 2018 to plan and oversee the conduct of the two day by-elections within the timeframe mandated by the Constitution.
Chairman Korkoyah disclosed that committee developed an electoral calendar and a budget of US$ 3.9 Million for the conduct of the two by-elections.
The budget and the timeline were submitted to the government through Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah on February 26, 2018 for funding.
Korkoyah said copy of the document was also sent to the office of President George M. Weah and to the National Legislature for their information.
He indicated that NEC needs the budgetary discussions to be concluded urgently to meet the electoral timetable because procurement and planning deadlines to meet the election date are fast approaching.
The NEC Chairman asked the government to prioritize the matter so as to ensure that the controlling constitutional provisions are met.
It’s not known where the funds for the senatorial By-elections will come from or whether, like other elections and Census mandate by the constitution, the pending May polls will be put on hold for some time.
Article 56 of the Liberian constitution requires the holding of chieftaincy elections across the country to complete the democratic process, but this has not been done since the post-war elections were first conducted over 12 years ago.
The government of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had been criticized in some quarters for failing to abide by the constitutional mandate for the holding of local elections.
Moreover, two CDC stalwarts in the lower House, Representatives Saa Joseph and Acarous Gray of Montserrado County, are poised to contest the pending Senatorial polls.
So, if either of the pair wins, additional hundreds of thousands of US dollars will later be needed to hold another Representative By-election three months thereafter.