Even before President-elect Senator George Weah’s inauguration on January 22, there is jostling for the vacant Montserrado County Senate seat by youths of his Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) political party.
The Liberian constitution mandates that a Bi-election must be held 90 days after the legislative seat is declared vacant.
The Joint Action Committee of the Youth League of the CDC on Friday nominated one of the party’s Representatives in the lower House of the Legislature Acarious Gray to contest the vacant seat in the pending Bi-election.
Representative Acarious Gray’s nomination comes some 24 hours after the official certification of Senator Weah as President-elect by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
And the move by the CDC youths also comes after two other CDC lawmakers in the House of Representatives–Saa Joseph and Thomas Fallah–had made known their intentions to contest Weah’s soon to be vacant Senate seat.
The preference of the CDC youth was announced to Journalists at the party’s headquarters in Monrovia by the Secretary General of the Youth League of the incoming ruling party, Emmanuel Johnson, who noted that the committee’s decision stemmed from a mandate from the Liberian people.
It also comes in the wake of widespread speculations that the favorite son of outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Robert Sirleaf was eyeing the seat.
Robert Sirleaf, former head of the now bankrupt National Oil Company (NOCAL), is said to have been given assurance of a possible CDC backing of his bid after he believed to have helped bankrolled the party’s 2017 elections campaign,
At the same time, the CDC Youth League has also nominated another of the party’s Representative from the southastern Maryland County, Bhofal Chambers for the speaker position, ahead of the January 15, elections.
Ahead of the January 22 inauguration, member of the House are slated to elect a new Speaker to replaced Emmanuel Nuquay, who was the running mate of defeated Unity Party (UP) presidential candidate, current Vice President Joseph Boakai.
Chambers won a third six-year term in the October 10, 2017 legislative election.
The CDC Youth League Secretary General said that the nomination of the two party executives is also intended “to sustain the advocacy of the people’s interest at the legislature.”
Johnson encouraged elected lawmakers of the CDC to rally support for Representative Bhofal Chambers in winning the speakership at the legislature. Report by Augustine Octavius