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LIBERIANS WANT CONSTITUTIONAL ADHERENCE, NOT
ABROGATION I want to engage this
medium to commend counselor Johnson-Morris for her
courage so far. It is not easy to hold such position in these
crucial times in Liberia. However, I want to establish my
disappointment about the attempt to deny Diaspora Liberians of their
constitutional rights to vote. Recently, I was surfing the internet
when I read a letter from counselor Johnson-Morris to ULAA. It appeared the letter
was in response to an earlier communication from ULAA to the NEC
requesting implementation of the constitutional provisions for
absentee balloting, and perhaps other requests. Commendably, the NEC
letter was quite civil and void of provocative words as has become an
established style of writing amongst Liberians. It also appeared that
the NEC Chair was making efforts to oversee a peaceful transition to
normalcy through an election. Notwithstanding, the NEC
has got some critical decision to make to ensure that transition
remains peaceful and democratic. But, adhering to the country’s
organ laws remains the surest way to deliver the peace envisaged by
all Liberians. Therefore, how the NEC
conducts the business of elections remains vital to all of us at this
point. I would hope that compromises are thoroughly assessed and
weighed against other critical variables before going public with
decisions or suggestions for legislative enactment. Mrs. Johnson-Morris
response to ULAA request for the implementation of the absentee ballot
system, as enshrined in section 5.5 of the New Elections Laws of
Liberia, was quite discouraging. I am disturbed, like many others,
because voting in the coming elections has been and still is my most
treasured hope. The NEC chairwoman who
had earlier stated, and rightfully so, that the “elections is one of
the surest ways we can end the fourteen years of war,” stated that
the NEC has submitted a bill to NTLA, requesting the suspension of
section 5.5 of the New Election laws of Liberia. That section
guarantees the casting of absentee ballots by Liberians residing out
of the country. In the same paragraph,
however, the NEC stated that it had also requested the suspension of
the ten years clause, which provides that Liberians reside in Liberia
for ten consecutive years in order to qualify as presidential and vice
presidential candidates. I thought this was disappointing and
paradoxical. At this juncture, I am feeling so disenfranchised and punished for seeking refuge to safe my life. I believe this is the feeling of thousands of Liberians who have read this letter. I am worried that my unflinching hope for a better Liberia that protects my constitutional rights to be heard through my vote is becoming a utopia. The most expedient thing
to do at this politically fragile time in Liberia is to confer with
Liberians and build consensus on critical issues. The NEC should
refrain from suggestions that will abrogate the Constitution and set a
dangerous precedent. Our recent history
should teach us to be mindful of precedents that tend to bypass the
Constitution in any shape or form. Whether for a noble cause or not, a
precedent that lays aside our constitution risks future exploitation
by crafty individuals for their selfish causes. Hello!! Have we
forgotten? If the NEC position is
based on fear of fraud or other factors that it believes might make
the process burdensome, then there are other ways to work around it
than bridging Liberia’s Constitution. I repeat, if the NEC cannot
handle issues it believes are sticky and crucial to the process, it
must begin to confer with Liberians and seek consensus on those
matters. In my mind,
suspension of clauses in the Constitution is a terrible and wrong
precedent at this time, when the scars of war are still so fresh and
people are hurting in various ways.
Let us remain mindful of such actions. It is public information
that other countries with even worse situations than Liberia have
successfully implemented absentee ballot system with marked success.
Certainly, Liberia is not and will not be the first country emerging
out of war to implement what is constitutional permitted in our
country in its post war elections. Afghanistan has done it
and the Iraqi interim leadership is assiduously working to ensure that
exiled Iraqis vote in its pending elections. Though, it is clear that
Iraq has a very tight and limited elections time table, the political
will to allow Iraqis to have their say exists within Alawi’s
government. Comparatively, the NEC and Bryant Government have to demonstrate the political will to oversee democratic elections, inclusive of the views of majority of Liberia’s eligible voters irrespective of geographic locations. But, it appears the NEC remains illusive to this critical realty. I want to request that the NEC, through its leadership, reconsiders its current bill before the NTLA. Liberians are anxious
more than ever before to participate in their first democratic
elections come October. There is practically no Liberian who goes to
bed without thinking of October as the deciding factor for the
survival of Liberia as a country with comparable measures of statehood
in the twenty first century. I am sure too many
Liberians living in the United States and other parts of the world
want to return home, but to a safe and peaceful environment where no
one would be chased at
night because of his or her beliefs and achievements. A legally sound
conduct of the process by the NEC guarantees that hope. It is this hope of returning home that keeps some of us proactively involved in the process to ensure Liberians can make an informed decision in October. No one should be excluded in any shape or form from this process only because of geography. It definitely would be a mistake which we will regret sooner or later. This is precisely why we have engaged the process through the
hosting of civic forums that invoke critical thinking and candid
dialoguing among Liberians in the Diaspora. The
Association of Liberian women in Pennsylvania, ALWPA, recent civic
forum and other Liberian organizations involvement at various levels
are a testament to our commitment to proactively engage the process
and its participants. Liberians need to speak out now and act in
unison to prevent the scary result of the lack thereof. Consequently, I join other Liberians to request reconsideration of the decision to suspend portions of the constitution in the pending elections. I HOPE the NTLA, in the spirit of true nationalism void of selfishness, rejects the bill requesting the suspension of Diaspora Liberians rights to cast their ballot in October. With my usually unflinching hope, I have my fingers crossed until reason prevails. |
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