As the National Elections Commission (NEC) has officially declared the winners of the November 14, 2023 presidential run-off election, the Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate, Prof. Albert Chie, has on behalf of the Liberian Senate congratulated former Vice President and President of the Liberian Senate, His Excellency Joseph Nyumah Boakai, and Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung for their election as President and Vice President, respectively.
Pro-temp Chie urged Boakai and Koung to design and implement policies to heal the nation, which has sustained wounds by the rigors and rhetoric of the electoral process and an evenly divided country which has witnessed an almost 50-50 presidential elections result.
He used the occasion to express the Senate’s thanks to President George Manneh Weah for congratulating President-elect and former VP Boakai, which caused the tension and anxiety which had built up in the country before last Friday’s announcement of the election result to dissipate. According to him, this has paved the way for yet another peaceful transfer of power in Liberia, which continues to dodge many African countries.
He also expressed thanks and appreciation, on behalf of the Senate, to the Chair and other members of the Board of Commissioners, staff, employees and the temporary workers of the National Elections Commission (NEC) for a job well done in conducting the 2023 elections in a fair and transparent manner. “We have always had confidence in the integrity of the men and women at NEC,” he observed.
He then thanked the people of Liberia for turning out to vote, for the most part, in a peaceful manner and all candidates for participating in the electoral process and abiding by the rules governing the process, to a large extent. “The work of local and foreign observers in the process and the support of the international community are worth noting, and our government and its people are grateful,” he continued.
Pro-temp Chie’s congratulatory message was contained in a special statement on the 2023 legislative and presidential elections, which he delivered at the Liberian Senate on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.
Speaking to his fellow senators, Prof. Chie said, “All of us in this Senate are national leaders and belong to different political parties, but witnessed the very competitive nature of the presidential elections. The final results of the presidential elections are so close that the government of inclusion with a significant amount of appointed positions going to the CDC which ended up with a whopping 49.36% of the final votes will be a prudent way to help in national reconciliation.”
He pointed out, “Now that the legislative and presidential elections are almost over, national focus has now turned to the processes which will lead to the final election of the officers and other leaders of the Legislature, most especially that of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro-tempore of the Senate.
“For the Legislature, I urge colleagues to first negotiate the leadership positions as a first resort. A full fledge competitive open election should be the last option.”
The Pro-temp disclosed that, in keeping with the new legislative calendar, the Senate will be in session until Friday, December 8, 2023 to continue work and deliberation on the agenda items which they previously agreed and other items that may surface from the Senate’s floor or from the Executive branch. “After that we will return on January 15, 2024, in line with Article 32 of the Constitution, to begin the first session of the 55th Legislature and get ready to participate in the inauguration of the next President on January 22, 2024, in line with Article 50. “We expect the President to present his legislative agenda for the year to the Legislature on January 29,” he noted.