The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations of Liberia, a conglomeration of ten (10) prodemocracy group, has endorsed the nomination of Jonathan Weedor as Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC). The group then rubbished calls by the Solidarity and Trust for a New Day (STAND) for President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to withdraw Weedor’s nomination as not only baseless and misleading, but lacks all legal and substantial basis.
Over the weekend, STAND outrightly urged the Liberian Senate to reject the nomination of Jonathan K. Weedor as Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), observing that the appeal is grounded in concerns relating to conflict of interest, compromised neutrality, and the broader risk such an appointment poses to Liberia’s democratic stability, peace, and public trust in the electoral process.
Providing the coalition’s position on the nomination of Weedor as Chairperson of NEC, the group of civil society organizations established that the he possesses the requisite qualifications, competence, experience, and integrity of character to serve as Chairperson of the National Elections Commission. The group specifically stated, “Mr. Jonathan Weedor is a man of character, a seasoned technocrat, and an experienced elections management specialist, while Mr. Morlu is a political gadfly and surrogate of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), who confuses noise with impact.”
The CSO group added, “Mr. Morlu lacks the moral voice and credibility to disparage the character of Mr. Weedor. Fresh off the ashes of two spectacularly failed protest attempts—mobilizations that drew more flies than followers, Mr. Morlu thinks that the best way to reclaim relevance is to launch a character assassination on Mr. Jonathan K. Weedor. We want to be brutally honest that the STAND Chairman is a morally bankrupt character, suffering from a severe case of Political Attention Deficit Disorder. His protests fizzled. The streets rejected him. The people did not show up. With the people glaringly rejecting his political chicanery, Mr. Morlu thinks he can get political capital at the expense of Mr. Weedor.”
Speaking further on Weedor’s nomination, COCSOL detested Morlu’s argument that Weedor has a “conflict of interest”. They stated, “Investigation conducted on Mr. Weedor’s role with the Unity party in the 2023 general and presidential reveals that Mr. Weedor spoke on behalf of a firm hired by the UP Alliance to carry out electoral management, data analysis, and poll watching.”
The group provided that Morlu’s demand that President Boakai withdraws Weedor’s appointment to “protect 2029” is not worthy of credence, as Weedor has previously served as a member and Co-Chair of the Board of commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) that delivered free, fair and credible elections.
They wondered as to how Morlu could speak of “public trust” and “perception of bias” regarding Weedor when his (Morlu’s) character is replete with actions and allegations that have summed up a bad public perception for him by the Liberian people. The coalition claimed that the people have labeled Morlu as a loud mouth and desperate character seeking public attention through the media.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations of Liberia then congratulated Jonathan K. Weedor on his preferment as Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), and expressed strong belief in his character and competence to lead the country’s electoral body. COCSOL announced its support to the nomination of Jonathan K. Weedor and said it will communicate with the Liberian Senate to unconditionally confirm him as Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC).
COCSOL’s statement was signed by all the ten collaborating organizations: Progressive Student Alliance of Liberia, Coalition of Youths and Student for Better Liberia, Liberia Anti-Corruption Movement, Independent Civil Society Network of Liberia, Movement for the Promotion of Transparency & Accountability, Liberians for Democratic Advancement, National Youths Movement for Good Governance, National Youth Council of Liberia, Youth Electoral Watch Platform, and Liberia Governance Watch Forum.
