-Preparing for December 26 runoff
The Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of football legend George Weah says it is looking forward to the National Elections Commission (NEC) implementation of the Supreme Court’s mandate, including the cleaning of the Final Registration Roll (FRR).
But in an interview with www.newspublictrus.com on Wednesday, CDC’s campaign official spokesman and member of the party’s Governing Council, Prof. D. Ansu Sonii, Sr. said CDC and no other party should usurp the constitutional functions of NEC.
“It’s not the place of the political parties. It’s the same voter roll that was used in the October 10, 2017 that all parties took part in, although there were complications. We cannot be the player and referee at the same time,” the CDC official spokesman said.
The Supreme Court on December 7 ordered the NEC to clean up the FRR, published hard copies and distribute them to all polling stations and election magistrate offices across Liberia before the conduct of the runoff presidential election.
Prof. Sonii said the CDC wants the constitutional timeline to be fully respected.
Under the Liberian constitution, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf must hand over by the mid-January 2018. If that is done, next year’s transfer of power will be the first time since 1944 that one elected president will be handing over power to another elected president.
The CDC spokesman expressed the hope that NEC and the Supreme Court would ensure the upholding of the constitution, so that the country can remain stable.
The CDC differs with the ruling UP over its calls for the resignation or removal of NEC’s Chairman Jerome Korkoya.
Prof Sonii urged the UP to rather focus on the pending December 26 political game, realizing that both parties are going to the runoff without bringing forward any percentage from the first round.
Both parties were not able to win absolute majority of 50% plus one vote in the first round of the presidential election as required by the constitution. Weah got 39%, while incumbent Vice President Boakai got 28% of the votes.
In the upcoming second round, either of the candidate will be able to win with simple majority vote.
At the same time, the CDC’s spokesman has spoken against those who may want to cause trouble in the country, saying that the CDC’s interest is to play by the rules of the electoral game.
“Our interest is to keep this country stable and secure,” Prof. Sonii said. Report by Frank Sainworla, Jr. fsainworla@yahoo.com