…Some Senators Threaten Court Action
By: Papie Sheriff Kollie Jr.
(Senate Protemp Wortorson Photo inserted)
At the passage of the controversial Threshold Bill of Liberia at 40,000 per constituency by the Plenary of the Liberian Senate Wednesday during a Special Session, few senators have threatened to challenge the passage of the Bill at the Supreme Court of Liberia.
It was reported from the Joint Assembly Chamber where Senate business was done yesterday that each of the senators present was given at most three minutes each to give their positions on the Threshold before votes were taken, which was done. Not withstanding the majority support the Threshold Bill enjoyed at 40,000 per constituency, some seven senators firmly opposed the passage even after the vote-taking.
Amongst the senators were Theodore Momo and Daniel Naathan of Gbarpolu, Gloria Musu Scott of and John Ballout of Maryland, Saye Tayor Dolo (Aldolphus Dolo) of Nimba County and Lahai Lansana of Bomi .
The opposing Senator contended that the Threshold Bill should be passed at 50,000 per constituency said the Government has already said it has no money to sponsor additional lawmakers that would be elected as a result of the new threshold.
Also opposed to the new Threshold was River-Gee County Senior Senator Fredrick Cherue who considered the threshold passage at 40,000 unconstitutional and will also serve as a ploy to put more economic burden of the government when it comes to supporting the additional representations created by the threshold.
As a consequence the opposing senators threatened to take their colleagues to the Supreme Court to seek judicial redress on the matter, as they walked out of the session in protest of the passage of the Threshold at 40,000.
Our legislative reporter said the senators walkout minutes after Pro-Tempore Cletus Wotorson announced that that with 17 senators for, seven against, two abstained and two absent, the controversial Threshold Bill was now passed at without any provision attached unlike before, the opposing senators walked out of the Plenary Session and an attempt to called them back to session did not materialize.
The Sergeant-At-Arms who the Pro-Tempore sent to call the protesting Senators back to session reported that the senators said they were no longer coming to session.
On the basis of the decision, the Senate announced that it would sanction the senators that walked out of the session apparently for disrespect to the plenary, but the Senate Pro-Tempore did not specify the sanction.
Meanwhile, with the voting of the document into law Wednesday, the Threshold Bill will now be sent to the President for Signature.
The Passage of the Threshold Bill at 40,000 per Constituency, kit means that representation at the lower House of Parliament is to by 16 Representatives, with Montserrado alone taking 13 Representatives, since it has the density of population at 1.1 million people. By this increase, Montserrado will now be represented with 27 lawmakers at the House of Representatives, followed by Nimba, Bong and Lofa Counties, which will be represented by 11, 8 and 6 Representatives respectively.
Recently, a team of seventeen Senators has written the Senate seeking a concurrence vote on the controversial population threshold bill. The Senators said the passage of the threshold bill is a constitutional imperative and a conditional precedent for the 2011 elections.
In a two page letter they pledged support for the forty-thousand threshold passed by the House of Representatives. The seventeen Senators from eleven Counties asked the Senate to take a decision on the threshold bill by Tuesday, January 19.
One of the seventeen Senators Mobutu Nyepan of Sinoe warned, any attempt to delay the passage of the threshold bill would harm Liberia’s young democracy. Also, Nimba County Representative Madam Nohn Rebecca Kidau, has observed that the proposed Threshold Bill submitted to the National Legislature by the National Elections Commission (NEC) is indeed critical to the holding of free and fair democratic elections in Liberia come 2011.
Representative Kidau who is member of the House Committee on Executive, Gender Equity, Lands, Mines and Natural Resources, intimated that, it is a common logic and reasoning that there can be no free and fair elections in the country in the absence of proper constituency demarcation and districts harmonization which are relevant issues that must be addressed through the speedy passage of the Threshold Bill.
The lawmaker told reporters Tuesday that it is expedient that her colleagues within the Legislature proceed with the passage of the Threshold Bill on the basis of population statistics produced by the Liberia Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) during the national census which was carried out.
Representative Kidau has meanwhile disclosed that series of discussions and consultations aimed at resolving lands conflicts in her county (Nimba) are ongoing and further revealed that a special committee comprising of some key individuals from diverse ethnic and tribal backgrounds in the country have since been constituted for the sole purpose of finding meaningful solutions to land crises in the area. She has promised to continue her development projects in her county.
This is the second time the Liberia Senate has concurred with the House of Representatives by passing the controversial threshold bill that experienced hitches at the Legislature for some differences amongst lawmakers.
The Senators yesterday went into an extraordinary session to obtain votes that would ensure passage of the bill after intense public pressure bore on them for their delay to concur with the lower House, which passed the bill at 40,000 per constituency.
The National Population Threshold Bill originated from the National Elections Commission, which set the population threshold at 38 per constituency, but the projection triggered contentions amongst lawmakers some of whom stated that the threshold proposed would deprive their counties or districts appropriate representation at the National Legislature.
Amid the bickering, public outcries and international pressure pushed the House to pass the Population Threshold Bill at 40,000 but when it went into the Senate, the contention lingered, causing prolonged bickering.
On Wednesday, bickering intensified when Senator Jewell Howard Taylor Wednesday made a motion for the passage of the controversial threshold bill at 40,000, she received a backlash from other senators who stepped on the motion on grounds that the threshold should be at 48,000 persons per constituency.
The motion generated an irking debate which brought the two opposing sides at each others’ throats with journalists gazing as though there was a motion picture being shown in the Senate Chamber. Apparently, the show was observed to be the incumbent Unity Party versus the out-of power National Patriotic Party acting for passage the threshold bill.
The bill was passed at 40,000 per constituency by the House of Representatives at the end of heavy bickering and prolonged hearing that aggravated public pressure which led to its passage. The contention has been that counties with a smaller population would be either under-represented in parliament or without any representation while those with larger populations have argued that the threshold bill is constitutional.
When the bill was sent to the Senate for concurrence, it got stalled. But a committee which handled it reported that it increased the threshold to 48,000 per constituency with at least two representatives across the board before the application of the threshold, a suggestion which has never sufficed up to present.
Accordingly, there has been immense consultation amongst senators to mitigate the impasse until yesterday when the Jewel Howard-Taylor motion was raised with a resistance that seemed to further stall its passage.
During yesterday’s session, Senator Abel Massaley of Grand Cape Mount County and a stalwart of the National Patriotic Party made an opening statement in which he said the Unity Party doesn’t want the Threshold Bill to be passed. In his statement, Senator Massaley indicated that he will join the civil society group and other groupings to see to it that the Unity Party doesn’t succeed in passing this controversial Threshold Bill.
Bomi County Senator Richard Devine reacting to Massaley from a Unity Party point of view said the NPP is no longer in existence, and that NPP will not be allowed to stall progress of the Unity Party, especially in stalling the passage of the Threshold Bill. Senator Devine indicated that he will make sure that he does not form part of what ever thing that is going to affect the people of Bomi.
At the senate session Wednesday, 25 Senators were present to vote the bill; when the presiding officer requested for votes, 11 senators voted for the passage of the Bill at 40,000 and while 14 were against.
Those who were for the bill at 40,000 include Senators Jewel Taylor, Joyce Freeman, Masseley, Prince Johnson amongst others, while those who were against the bill passed at 40,000 but instead at 48,000 were Maryland County Senator Gloria Scott, Bomi’s Richard Devine, Maryland’s John Ballout, Grand Bassa’s Gbazongar Finely, and Bomi’s Laiha Lansana amongst others.
Apparently the development at the Senate suggests refusal by the Liberian Senate to concur with the House of Representatives in the passing the National Threshold Bill at 40,000 per constituency, without addressing pertinent concerns.
The delay in passing the controversial National Threshold Bill currently before the Senate has ignited local and International criticisms on the national Legislative, which have apparently compelled its passage by the House of Representative pending senate concurrence.
Notwithstanding Thursday, however, there were threats of demonstrations by some civil society members who have decided to pressure the Senate to pass the bill so that it would not hinder progress in preparation for the 2011 presidential and general elections.
Our reporter from the Capitol said senators were seen Thursday engaged by so many civil society organization members on ground that the senators should see reason to pass the bill in the national interest.
Amongst the civil society organization members seen at the Capitol were the Justice of the Peace (JPC) director in person of Augustine Toe and others.
The Senate Committee Chairman on Executive, Nathaniel Nathan of Gbarpulo County who was the presiding, recognized Senator Franklin Siakor of Bong County to make the motion. Senator Siakor, in his motion suggested that the bill which was brought to us from the lower house for concurrence remains at 40,000 as the national threshold with no counties having less than two seats across the board.
The motion was overwhelmingly accepted with 16 votes in favor of the 40,000 for the reason that the bill should not be held hostage, while 9 was against the bill at 40,000. The senators told journalist that a Conference Committee will be set up next Tuesday to see how best they can negotiate with the lower house for the provision to be accepted.
Source: The NEW VISION Newspaper in Monrovia
No comments:
Post a Comment