By Frank Sainworla, Jr. fsainworla@yahoo.com
Civil society groups in Liberia have taken the United States to task for expressing “confidence in the integrity” October 10, 2017 elections that is being disputed and urging the two frontrunners “to prepare to compete in the runoff,” as the legal challenges of the results are still being heard.
The Chairperson of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NACSCL), Frances Greaves told a forum on promoting democracy and preventing electoral violence through dialogue near Monrovia on Thursday, that the US embassy’s statement undercuts ongoing legal process to get to the bottom of claims of massive fraud and irregularities in the October 10 polls.
Greaves said what the US should be doing now is to buttress Liberia’s legal system by allowing the ongoing litigation to reach its logical conclusion.
For her part, the head of the Women Situation Room, Lawyer Yvette Chesson-Wureh said the US should wait and allow the rule of law to take place, as it is being done through a process laid out in the Liberian constitution for resolving election disputes.
Speaking at the panel discussion forum organized by a USAID-funded group, Internews, Wureh said, “this is the right of the Liberian people to go ahead and abide by the constitution and its relevant instruments…We have the Supreme Court and constitution and we will abide by it.”
In their statement, the Americans said they appreciated that the aggrieved parties were using the legal options to pursue their complaints, but noted that they were not taking cue from the commitment and faith in the democratic process demonstrated by 1.5 million people who voted on October 10.
“We note, however, that with rights come responsibilities. Disputes and litigation should be initiated and conducted in good faith by the claimants, the NEC, and if needed, the Supreme Court, in an expeditious manner to permit the timely conclusion of Liberia’s electoral process and a peaceful transition,” the US Embassy statement said.
Three other panelists, the head of the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY), Augustine Tamba, the Executive Director of New Narrative Liberia, Journalist Tecee Boley and an official of the National Movement for Transparent Elections (NAYMOTE), Aaron Weah Weah also disagreed with the tone of the US statement.
“Democracy should be strengthened through the rule of law. Let Liberian people decide…Let’s see this (legal process) play out,” Tamba told the Americans.
The head of the New Narrative T.C. Boley called on the US Embassy to give the ongoing legal process at the Supreme Court and the National Elections Commission a chance to probe into claims of fraud.
Weah Weah of NAYMOTE said some irregularities his groups discovered and spoke about during the polls need to be investigated.
In a similar row over Liberia’s elections results back in 1985 when opposition parties claimed vote rigging in the elections that brought former President Samuel K. Doe to power, the American government of President Ronald Reagan gave the vote thumbs up.
Former US Secretary of State George Shultz visited Monrovia at the time and declared that the balloting was okay.
Among Liberian politicians who resisted the 1985 elections results was current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who refused to take up her office as Montserrado County Senator which she won then and the November 12, 1985 violent episode followed.
This, one of the first panelists at the forum, Lawyer Lamii Kpargoi, said local and international stakeholders have omitted from the history of Liberian political transitions.
According to him, most people continue to only put premium on the 1944 transition when President Barclay transferred power over to President Tubman after election.
But Kpargoi said not attention has been paid on the 1985 election dispute 30 years ago, adding that “it is the most important timeline.”