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‘Punish Parties Involved In Pre-Campaigning’-Methodist Rights Group Urges NEC

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But NEC Says It’s Waiting For Formal Complaint

PHOTO: Jefferson Knight, Rights Monitor’s boss

By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com

The United Methodist Human Rights Monitor has called on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to take punitive action against political parties and individuals who are engaging in pre-campaigning in violation of the election laws, ahead of the December 8 Mid-term Senatorial polls.

The Rights Monitor’s Program Director, Jefferson Knight, said over the last few months, his organization has observed that politicians from the both the ruling CDC party and the opposition have all been engaged in pre-campaigning activities, in absence of the declaration of campaign open by NEC.

In an interview recently, Mr. Knight pointed out that these acts on the part of political parties constitutes a complete violation of the laws should not be allowed to go unpunished.

According to him, these are some of the activities that are causing the violence among some of political parties and their supporters politicians are going about places dishing out cash and bags of rice in the name of rendering assistance.

He maintained that the electoral authority to put its feet on the ground and begin taking steps because these pre –campaigning activities have the propensity of undermining the credibility of the Commission, NEC.

Mr. Knight also called on the Inter-Religion Council of Liberia, a conglomeration of the Liberia Council of Churches and the National Muslim Council of Liberia, as well as civil society organizations to add their voices by condemning “a broad-day violation of the Liberian Constitution”.

The United Methodist Human Rights Monitor maintained that Liberia’s crisis always start from electoral problems and the electoral authority needs to put her feet down

The United Methodist Human Rights Monitor is not the only institution that has spoken against pre campaigning, because the Justice Forum and the Movement for Economic Empowerment have all complained about pre-campaigning in the country.

Since NEC announced the December 8, 2020 as the date for the holding of the senatorial elections and the national referendum, political parties and politicians have been engaged in pre-campaigning.

Commenting on the reported pre-campaigning, the National Elections Commission says it has not received any formal complains about pre-campaigning in the country.

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