Lofa By-Election On Ice

By: R. Joyclyn Wea

MONROVIA-Ahead of Tuesday, May 10, 2022 poll; the National Elections Commission (NEC) through its Chairperson Davidetta Brown Lassanah has informed the public that the Lofa County’s Senatorial By-election will not be conducted as scheduled due to ongoing legal matters before the Supreme Court.

The Commission on February 16, 2022 received from the Honorable Senate a communication, notifying it of a vacancy in the Liberian Senate for a seat for Lofa County. In keeping with Article 37 of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, the NEC has 90 days from the date of receipt of the said notification to cause the by-election to be held.

Accordingly, the NEC scheduled the 2022 Lofa County Senatorial By-election for May 10, 2022, thereby leaving the Commission with a week before the expiration of the 90-day period.

Madam Brown-Lassanah in a press conference over the weekend announced that due to the ongoing legal dispute between the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) Versus the All Liberian Party (ALP); and the Unity Party (UP) relative to the participation of an aspirant under the Unity Party in the said by-election, the Commission has determined that it will not be feasible to conduct the Lofa County Senatorial By-election on May 10, 2022 as earlier planned.

Commission Lassanah said this has already been communicated to the Honorable Liberian Legislature, given that any extension of the By-election date beyond the ninety-day constitutional provision will require further legal mandate.

Once received, she noted that the Commission will communicate a new date for the By-election to the people of Lofa and the Liberian people in general following the final disposition by the Supreme Court of Liberia of the appeal related to the said 2022 Lofa County Senatorial By-election.

According to her, all of the funding and materials needed for the holding of this process is set only that cannot proceed in the absence of the outcome on the different cases before the high court for determination.

 

Meanwhile, the NEC calls on all citizens of Lofa County and interested stakeholders in the Lofa Senatorial By-election to remain calm and peaceful as the legal process unfolds.

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