Horatio Gould: “If Senators Want To Stay In Office Beyond 2020, They Are Day Dreaming”

By Reuben Sei Waylaun

The former chairman of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) says if Senators believe that they will use the current situation in the country to remain in office beyond 2020, they are ‘day dreaming.’

Appearing on Okay FM Friday May 29, 2020, Horatio Gould said they will continue to engage the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the National Elections Commission (NEC) on the impending 2020 senatorial elections that it shouldn’t go beyond 2020.

According to Gould, anything short of conducting the elections in 2020, the blame will be squarely placed on the feet of the government and the NEC.

“We expect every responsible government to adhere to the rule of law. The election is known to all of us almost nine years ago. There should be no excuse,” Gould said.

Gould added “Senators determine how they live, how their lives have been led, our people know what kind of development agenda get to them and therefore, they are concern and eager to change most of the Senators,” he added.

“If Senators believe that they are using that as a plot to remain in office beyond 2020, they are day dreaming,” he said  

For his part, a stalwart of the then governing Unity Party (UP), Cole Bangalu said Senators on the Liberian Senate’s committees on Judiciary, Elections and Inauguration who are seeking for reelection should recuse themselves from the committees.

According to Bangalu, those senators might be in favor of the postponement of the elections to have free time to continue to stay in office.

Gould has meanwhile reechoed that the opposition community will continue to remain constructive and they are not weak as insinuated in many quarters.

“Let me be clear on this, we will be an opposition that is constructive, but we are not weak. We will not allow any senator to stay beyond their constitutional tenure and we don’t believe that the Liberian people that we represent will allow that,” Gould said.

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has since written President George Manneh Weah that October 13, 2020 wasn’t feasible for the conduct of the elections due to the novel coronavirus in the country.

Upon receiving the letter from NEC, President Weah wrote the National Legislature for the elections to take place on December 15, 2020. The Legislature is still reviewing the letter from the Liberian leader. Lately, it has been reported that some members of the governing CDC in the lower house drafted a resolution for the election to take place in January 2020.

If this happens, it will be a violation of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia because 15 of the senators’ tenure will expire as of December 2020.