PHOTO: EU MP Maria Arena
By William Selmah, wselmah@gmail.com
A member of the European Parliament says EU’s support and involvement with Liberia’s electoral process over the years is based on the shared democratic values of both Liberia and the EU. MP Maria Arena who is also former Chief Observer for the EU Electoral Observer Mission (EOM) at the 2017 Liberian elections says the shared values are cherished by both sides as well.
She was addressing a news conference at the close of an EU electoral follow-up mission roundtable with civil society organizations in Monrovia.
The EU diplomat said the follow up mission is chiefly meant to assess the degree to which the EOM’s recommendations for improving the Liberian election framework from 2017 have been implemented so far and too discuss ways to achieve further progress on electoral reform. The recommendations were based on an impartial assessment of all aspects of the electoral process and guided by regional and international standards for elections.
It can be recalled that EU Electoral Observer Mission advanced 23 recommendations in 2018 aimed at improving the conduct of future elections and correcting challenges of the one held in 2017 elections.
Among priority recommendations, EU election observers recommended affirmative action for women participation in elections, including implementing capacity building for prospective female candidates and measures for better integration of women in political parties throughout the electoral cycle.
“I remain hopeful that the Liberian authorities will engage with stakeholders on improving the electoral framework before the 2023 elections and, among other, introduce measures to increase participation of female candidates to elections and support the 30 per cent female mandatory quota for political party candidates, as proposed by the National Elections Commission” –said Ms. Arena.
Liberian authorities, she noted, have all the tools needed to help increase women political representation because it has all the tools to work with through several protocols it has acceded to such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, among others.
Increased gender representation, Arena pointed out, is never achieved through a single solution, but a holistic one.
The Follow-up Mission met with the President and Vice President of Liberia, the National Elections Commission, the leadership of Senate and House of Representatives, several ministries, chief Justice, political parties, civil society organizations, media and the international community.
Ms. Arena recalled that “the EU electoral recommendations are a sign of EU willingness to support democratic elections in Liberia via the improvement of the electoral framework. They should be seen as an indication for possible electoral reform prior to the next elections”.
Though progress achieved so far in the implementation of EU EOM recommendations has been minimal, she wants ongoing electoral reforms being discussed to be further acted on, some of which she outlined as the campaign environment, political finance and electoral dispute resolution mechanism. “We urge all electoral stakeholders to engage in good faith in consultations to build a greater level of public confidence in time for the 2023 election. The European Union will continue to support Liberia in this process, Arena said.
A comprehensive final report of the EU Follow-up Mission will be published in the coming months and will accordingly be used to inform EU support for Liberia’s democratic institutions.
The EU Parliamentarian is meanwhile urging Liberian authorities and stakeholders to prioritize implementation of the recommendations, saying they are of no use without implementation”.
Arena admitted that there can never be a perfect electoral process just as no one is perfect. But she noted that the timing of the discussions being held on electoral challenges ahead of 2023 was perfect and that in democratic processes as elections, it takes time to effect changes.