Liberian Senate wants Mid-Term Senatorial Elections to be Held December 8th
Liberia’s Plenary of the Senate has supported recommendations to postpone the upcoming referendum and senatorial elections from October 13th to December 8th, 2020.
The report from the Senate’s Judiciary and Autonomous Committee outlines the effect that the coronavirus pandemic would have on such an imminent election, and its cost to an already financially stretched government.
The report read, “The Executive should make the funds available so as to ensure that there is no delay or interruption in the conduct of the referendum and election because of [lack of] funding.
“And that the voter roll is clean by the National Elections Commission with the involvement of political Parties.”
The Committee also recommended that political parties be involved in the process of organising the December elections for the sake of transparency and electoral integrity.
Also, due to the trying circumstances leading up to the December elections, the Committee has advised that quarterly reports should be written regularly monitoring the issues surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and electoral procedure.
Liberia’s President George Weah addressed the Senate outlining the difficulties of holding the elections on the original timeline. Indeed, important preparatory activities such as voter registration, International Procurement, and the nationwide training of temporary electoral staff have all been indefinitely postponed due to the pandemic.
The President said, “For instance, international flights have been grounded, borders have been closed and countries are experiencing lockdown – all activities associated with free, fair and transparent election which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, similarly as was the case in the aftermath of the deadly Ebola virus outbreak of 2014.”
The NEC hopes that all the necessary preparatory activities will be completed in enough time to hold the elections on the deferred time frame.
Photo: Front Page Africa