NEC Headquarters
Credible information reaching the Hot Pepper says the December 8, 2020 referendum is not yet cancelled by the National Elections Commission (NEC), despite the Supreme Court ruling against the conduct of the referendum.
According to sources, NEC has held several meetings since the ruling of the Supreme Court to reprint the ballot paper for the referendum, separating the eight propositions as required by the high court in accordance with the resolution adopted by the National Legislature. Our informer also revealed that NEC is under immense pressure to have the referendum form part of the December 8 election so as to avoid another expenditure.
NEC previously condensed or collapsed the eight propositions into three categories, instead of the eight propositions contained in the joint resolution passed by both House of Representatives and the Liberian Senate.
In addition to information, Amos Williams, President of the Federation of Liberian Youths (FLY) wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday: “NEC has announced that the referendum ballots will be reprinted as eight propositions and that the referendum will go ahead.” According to Williams, NEC reached the decision during a meeting over the weekend.
However, the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), through the Secretary General of the Unity Party (UP), Mo Ali, have objected to the NEC’s plan to proceed with the conduct of the Referendum in the face of the descending ruling from the Supreme Court, and have vowed to resist the decision of the NEC.
“We know that the NEC has been instructed to disobey the already compromised and helpless Supreme Court, but we will resist,” Mo Ali wrote.
“This is our position and we will definitely stand by them: the Supreme Court says that the Gazette, with the 3 condensed propositions, is inconsistent with the Constitution and cannot be used as the basis for the Referendum; For NEC to print ballots on the basis of the eight proposed amendments, there must first be a new Gazette issued by the government listing the 8 amendments. NEC by itself, cannot print ballots without a new official Gazette consistent with the Constitution; before the ballots are printed, there must be consensus on the ‘symbols’ which will form the basis for public education; NEC cannot unilaterally decide on the symbols, this must be done in close collaboration with the political parties; when the symbols for the eight proposed amendments are decided upon, the public must be educated on the symbols and the amendments they represent; and considering that only two weeks remain to December 8, 2020, the people of Liberia would not be educated enough on the proposed amendments to enable them to exercise their right to vote in an informed manner. The CPP therefore objects to any plan by the NEC to proceed with the conduct of the Referendum under these conditions of the lack of education of the people,” the CPP noted.
The Supreme Court of Liberia on Wednesday, November 18, in a unanimous opinion, granted the Petition for a Writ of Prohibition against the holding of the Referendum filed by the CPP. It could be recalled that consistent with Article 91 of the Constitution, the Legislature adopted a Joint Resolution, proposing a Constitutional Referendum to amend eight (8) Articles of the 1986 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia.
Contrary to the Resolution adopted by the National Legislature, the Executive branch of the government collapsed the eight proposed amendments into three (3) Ballot measures on which the electorate will be required to vote “Yes” or “No” in an official gazette published on October 8, 2019 in Volume XIX, No. 52.
The Supreme Court went further to state, “To the mind of this Court, this is a violation of the letters and intent of the Constitution and the citizens’ right of choice. The court agrees with the petitioners that should the 1st Respondent (National Elections Commission) be permitted to print the ballot papers based upon the published Official Gazette, then and in that case, that will constitute proceeding by the wrong rule. It being the finding of this Court that the Official Gazette is inconsistent with the dictate of the constitution, prohibition will lie to prevent the 1st Respondent form relying thereupon in the execution of its functions. The Constitution.”
