9.4 C
London
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Liberia: ECC Backs Weah for Constitutional Amendment

The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) says it supports and commends President Dr. George Manneh Weah’s intent and ideas for Constitutional amendments.

This, ECC in a statement Tuesday, August 13, 2019, is necessary for the consolidation of Liberia’s fragile and emerging democracy.

“Last week the media reported that the President is contemplating on Constitutional amendments to reduce the tenures of the Presidency from six to five years, the Senate from nine to seven years and the House of Representatives from six to five years.

These initial proposals from the President are welcoming. At the same time, the ECC calls on the President to recommend to the National Legislature a comprehensive amendment to the Constitution in order to avoid a constant change to provisions within the Constitution.

This will also minimize financial cost on the government,” ECC said in the statement.

ECC in the statement said a broad amendment to the Constitution will create the opportunity for far-reaching legal reforms including a change of the election date (Article 83A) and removing it from the Constitution; put a stop to the conduct of by-elections because of low turn-out and financial burden on the government (Article 37 of the Constitution); the removal of judicial powers from the National Elections Commission (NEC) in the resolution of electoral petitions (Article 83C); elimination of the racist clause on citizenship (Article 27B); limit the appointing powers of the President so that Superintendents and City Mayors can be elected in pursuit of full political decentralization (Article 54C); a change to provisions that have to do with the formation and operations of political parties (Chapter 7 of the Constitution) that would lead to the formulation of a Political Party Act and to alter the provision on how amendments to the Constitution can take place (Article 92).

Pursuant to this objective, “the ECC is recommending the following for consideration: In order to minimize confusion among voters, the comprehensive amendments to the Constitution will be determined through a “NO” or “YES” vote rather than on individual propositions.

The broader Constitutional review process is led by the Law Reform Commission (LRC) and membership expanded to include representatives from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Law School, political parties, Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRCL), the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), National Traditional Council, and the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC).

Latest news

Related news