Liberia’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition filed by the opposition to suspend the voter registration process ahead of presidential and legislative elections scheduled for October, in which incumbent President George Weah is seeking re-election.
The opposition coalition Political Parties in Partnership (CPP) had called for the suspension of the National Electoral Commission’s procedures, questioning their constitutionality, but the court has ruled that it sees no grounds to halt the process.
The president of the Supreme Court, Sie.A.Nyene Youh, has said that the court »sees no reason to disrupt the voter registration process, as the NEC is not violating the Constitution», as reported by the Liberian newspaper ‘Daily Observer’.
»The mere fact that political parties, an alliance, a candidate or the NEC are mentioned or a lawsuit is filed in a case does not make it an election matter. The Constitution must be interpreted in view of the whole document, not in view of a hijacked pronouncement,» he argued.
Thus, Youh has referred to the CPP’s assertion of an alleged violation of Article 80 of the Magna Carta as the registration process was initiated before the final demarcation of the constituencies has been completed after the last census in view of the holding of the polls.
Therefore, the Supreme Court has demanded the electoral commission to proceed with the second phase of the registration process, once the first phase, which was marked by a series of technical problems during the procedures, has been concluded.
A total of 27 Liberian parties signed in early April an agreement in which they committed themselves to avoid violent incidents in the run-up to the elections, a fact that was applauded by Weah, who also defended that the elections »are a significant opportunity not only to consolidate democratic advances, but to strengthen and increase them».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
