MONROVIA-Liberty party had received a communication from the national elections commission stating, in effect, that it upholds the 2021 constitution of the party which has been of much controversy; still regards Mr. Musa Bility, as its chairman.
In a statement dated December 13, 2021 Liberty Party Political Leader Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence termed as shocking the position of the NEC.
Her response comes hours after the National Elections Commission issued a statement recognizing Musa Bility’s leadership thereby calling on Senator Lawrence to follow due process in changing the status of the party.
The NEC communication, signed by its Co-Chairperson Teplah Reeves, is quoted as saying the LP 2021 constitution is proper and remains, as such, until successfully challenged in keeping with due process or via amendment to the party’s constitution.
The commission revealed in the communication that it has not received any final or non-appealable decision regarding the validity of the LP‘s 2021 constitution; neither has the commission been served with an amendment done by the party.
The LP head noted: “we wish to reiterate that on October 2, 2021, both the Political Leader and Mr. Bility, agreed to hold a retreat at the Farmington hotel under the auspices of the National Advisory Council to review the convention’s documents in terms of procedures and contents. The meeting took place against the backdrop of NEC’s ruling, urging the party to use its internal mechanism to resolve the matter.”
Karnga Lawrence mentioned that the result of the retreat, which identified unauthorized changes in the document, has since November 15, 2021, been filed with the NEC with notice to the commission that the instrument was effectively withdrawn; as it could not govern the affairs of the party. It is also important to note that under the MOU, both parties agreed to accept the findings of the forum as final and binding.
Additionally, she said; “we have today, December 13, 2021, solidified the nullification of the convention by an order which contains all of the reasons for the nullification of the convention.”
That, having being submitted to the NEC, constitutes sufficient notification to that body. We shall not rescind this decision, not even with any attempt by the NEC to interfere in the internal matter of liberty party.”
“It goes without saying that having nullified the convention for ignoring key provisions governing special national convention and officers elected at the convention are of no legal effect, all concerned are warned to desist from making reference to the said illegal document, the LP political leader noted.
Sen. Lawrence further; “We do have a precedent case with the NEC on this matter, and will not hesitate to pursue the appropriate measure to ensure that the NEC complies with its own ruling, referencing sections 3.4 of its revised guidelines governing political parties and independent candidates.”
Senator Abe Darius Dillon posted on his official Facebook page that, the decision taken by the Co-Chair of the National Elections Commission (NEC) is a reversible error.
According to him, the Co-Chair of NEC has essentially said the Liberty Party 2021 Constitution submitted at the Commission is PRESUMED to be the proper Constitution of the Party until it can be otherwise proven and withdrawn.
The Montserrado County Senator said, “What the Co-Chair of NEC deliberately failed to acknowledge is that the 2021 Constitution deposited at NEC has been a subject of dispute due to allegations of alterations. The NEC was formally advised not to honor said document. The NEC in reply advised the Party to utilize its intra-party dispute mechanism to investigate the authenticity of the allegations.”
He said the Party agreed to investigate the allegations under the guidance of the Party’s National Advisory Committee (NAC).
“The matter was properly investigated during which it was established that consequential alterations were made that required withdrawal of the altered version from NEC to be properly replaced with the true, correct version as contained in the October 2, 2021 Farmington Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” Sen. Dillon said.
He added that the fact the Co-Chair of NEC failed to acknowledge that the NEC was formally informed and provided with the evidence, and that the altered constitution is not a factual document upon which a Party can operate and properly function, tells volumes about her judgment.
“Liberty Party will not operate under an ALTERED document that is already declared nullified. Therefore, we are proceeding to take advantage of the legal remedies available to ensure the decision of the Co-Chair of NEC is reversed. We remain relentless!!!,” she concluded.
Comments are closed.