The head of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa International Election Observation Mission (EISA-IEOM), His Excellency Dr. Nevers Mumba, has warned political parties and candidates to desist from self-declared victory announcement before it contradicts the National Elections Commission’s official results and cause panic.
“…Constitution only mandates NEC as the vehicle of authority to announce any result. Outside that, we are going on the path of panicking, and Liberia does not need panic,” Dr. Mumba, former Vice President of Zambia, warned Liberians. He called on Liberians to stop self-declared victory announcements, be patient and wait on NEC for the final results on October 25.
With several representative-candidates announcing self-declared victory on social media, buttressed by the Unity Party in a press conference on Thursday, EISA-IEOM informed the public that this is a recipe of crisis because it not from the National Elections Commission (NEC).
“NEC will announce the results. Let’s be patient. But any other political party that announces results… we appeal to them to desist from that,” EISA-IEOM said. “What you are doing: you are raising the hope of yourself and members.
“From our experience, after every election there is one winner. So if you say you have won and have not won, you create a crisis for yourself, members and for Liberia,” he maintained, warning against self-declared victory announcements.
EISA-IEOM outlined previous violence scenes which took place in Foya, Lofa County, that caused fatalities, prompted by the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Unity Party, and the one between the ALCOP and the ruling party on the closure of campaign on October 8, 2023.
EISA-IEOM lauded Liberians for the huge turnout and the peaceful manner in which Liberians conducted themselves on election day, but outlined challenges and called on the government to address them. It observed inadequate state officers assigned at polling centers, NEC’s poor civic voter registration campaign, images and names of candidates, parties emblems’ lower appearance on the ballot paper, voting starting after 30 minutes, the absence of significant electoral or Constitutional reforms for the election, recent legislative attempts to make substantial changes to the New Electoral Law, and so on.
The mission noted the delay in the release of the regulations on collation and tabulation of results, which was also released just before the election date.
While the observers team pointed out the delay publication of the final registration roll, late voter card registration, and son on, it recommended to the government to do the following to upgrade the electoral processes in Liberia: promulgate into law provisions on compulsory gender quotas for female candidates in line with Liberia’s international commitment for affirmative action; enforce the rules in the election law by prosecuting offences such as voter trucking; NEC strengthen public communications with emphasis on key processes making it more proactive, timely and precise; improve the habitability of polling places considering size and verification; increase the number of voting booths in the polling places to expedite the voting; political parties should commit to the principles of the revised Farmington River Declaration and take a leading role as advocates for peace; strategically deploy party agents so that there are no more than two party agents from the same party in one polling place. For the media, it recommended prioritized professional training, especially in conflict-sensitive election reporting to manage tension and incidents of violence; establish a media monitoring and regulations mechanism to combat misinformation. For the youth, it recommended the government creates a voice and agency to push for electoral reform that ensure their participation and representation, and prioritize the deployment of security officers at polling precincts with large numbers of registered voters.
