By our Staff Writer
The first “Save the state” protest staged by the Council of Patriots (COP) on June 7 went on peacefully in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, but the second planned for tomorrow, Wednesday July 31, 2019 may not pass off without incident if care is not taken.
Despite the Justice Ministry’s refusal to grant the protest organizers’ permit to demonstrate on July 31st, the head of the COP, vocal talk show host, Mr. Henry Costa says their planned peaceful protest will go ahead.
“Tomorrow, we will make history yet again. The largest peaceful protest, even bigger than June 7th. We will assemble at the same venue where we gathered on June 7th,” wrote on his Facebook page more than an hour ago (about 4Pm local time).
That protest attended by thousands of people took place on Capitol Hill between the Capitol Building and the Executive Mansion. The protesters said they were venting out their dissatisfaction over the worsening economic crisis, corruption, repeated violations of the constitution, bad governance, among other thing by the government of President George Weah.
The logo of the protesters
But on July 25, 2019, the Liberian Ministry of Justice in a statement signed by its Minister, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean said:
“The general public is warned that, consistent with the Act Requiring the Obtaining of Permits for Public Marches and Demonstrations, approved February 10, 1975 and Section 22 of the Liberia National Police Act of 2015, any person or group of persons wishing to stage a march or demonstration must first obtain a permit from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) before staging such a demonstration. The MOJ notes that to date, no application or request for a permit to demonstrate or to hold a march has been made by any person or group of persons.”
Organizers of the protest have repeatedly said they are exercising their right to peaceful assembly guaranteed by Article 17 of the Liberian constitution which states:
“All persons, at all times, in an orderly and peaceable manner, shall have the right to assemble and consult upon the common good, to instruct their representatives, to petition the Government or other functionaries for the redress of grievances and to associate fully with others or refuse to associate in political parties, trade unions and other organizations.”
But the Justice Ministry claimed that no security arrangements have been worked out with the group, which has said the protest will be across Liberia, the specific duration of the demonstration and other things that must be put in place before such an event, so as not to violate the rights of other peaceful citizens under Article 13 of the Liberian constitution.
“The MOJ wishes to stress the need for all Liberians to abide by the laws of Liberia in the exercise of their right to peaceful assembly, so that there is no disruption of normal traffic, business activities, and free movement of people. We encourage all persons or group of persons desiring to stage a peaceful march or demonstration to strictly comply with the law relating to public marches and/demonstrations,” the Justice Ministry’s July 25th statement said.
Wednesday’s planned “Save the state” protest comes some 48 hours after a heated electoral contest between the ruling CDC party and a host of other opposition parties and independent candidates to fill two vacant Senatorial and Representative seats in Montserrado County.
The political tension is building up as official preliminary results from the polls, which took place on July 29, are yet to be announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC). And both the CDC and the opposition camps have begun to claim victory, with some of their supporters in public celebrations, something that is likely to spill over into any demonstration on July 31st increasing the potential for some sort of showdown.