Referendum under What Authority?

Elections Commission Chairman Fromayan

… Cllr. Verdier Says To Satisfy Power Holders;

By: Bill K. Jarkloh

A fortnight ago, the National Elections Commission announced the commissioning of voters’ education for the conduct of the embattled National Referendum. But under what authority is the NEC acting to trigger into motion the process for conduct of the ensuing National Referendum. As The Diary’s Editor dived into the matter, a prominent and young Liberian lawyer says holding the National Referendum before the 2011 presidential and general elections is masked with a hidden agenda which is insulting to the intelligence of the general Public.
Cllr. Jerome Verdier’s argument indicates the violations, schemes and flaws that have wrapped around the agenda, saying that the propositions or rationale behind the changing of the four Constitutional articles constitute a disservice to the people and are insulting to their intelligence as people who have survived a fourteen year conflict and are determined to build peace in the country.
The boss of the defunct Truth & Reconciliation Commission made the statement on the latest edition of the Edward Wilmot Blyden Lecture Series of the Press Union of Liberia at the Headquarters of the Union.
He was there along with other civil society leaders including Mr. Dan Saryee of the Liberia Democratic Institute, Mr. Mark Marvey of the National Youth Movement for Transparent Elections and the Vision Bearer of the Proposed Liberia Reconstruction Party, Dr. Manferngei Cecelia Ndebe were panelists.
Called to debate the topic: “Propositions for National Referendum and their Relevance,” all of the panelists discredited the rationale for the pending national referendum.
For Cllr. Verdier, the NATIONAL REFERENDUM, if held, would be unconstitutional. He therefore opposed to the process through an elaborate legal explanations.
Residency Clause a hidden agenda
“The exercise is premised on an uncertified … and very myopic short-term political objective – and this objective is hidden in the proposition for the reduction of the residency clause,” the former Truth and Reconciliation Commission boss said.
The soft-spoken lawyer added, “All the other things are just to make it looks like somebody is thinking about the constitution.”
The residency clause is enshrined in Article 52(c), which states that “No person shall be eligible to hold the office of President or Vice–President, unless that person is resident in the Republic ten years prior to his election, provided that the President and the Vice–President shall not come from the same County.”
He explained that Article 92 of the Constitution which states that the rationales should be published in an official Gazette and circulated around the country.
And UNTIL THAT PUBLICATION IS COMPLETED, THE ACTION OF THE LEGISLATURE IS NOT YET COMPLETE, he reiterated, noting, “You cannot begin to count one year in September or August last year. No! [This is] because we are not informed and there is no informed basis for the Referendum.”
The Constitution, he observed, has been consistently violated with none speaking against it. He said the Liberian Legislature and the Executive Branch feel free and comfortable to continue these violations.
“We go back to the threshold - [the National] Elections Commission has published regulations governing Referendum and it refers to people voting not at Constituencies but at polling stations,” he exclaimed.
According to him, “The Constitution has been consistently violated, and we have not spoken about; so our Legislature and the Executive Branch feel free and comfortable to continue these violations.”
Polling Station voting where in the Law?
Citing the failure by the Legislature to enact a threshold, Verdier said the National Elections Commission has published regulations governing Referendum in which the commission asked the people to vote not at Constituencies, but at polling stations.
“Where in the Constitution or in any law… in Liberia that you can vote at polling stations – check it out. UNDER WHAT AUTHORITY [IS] THE [NATIONAL] ELECTIONS COMMISSION ATTEMPTING TO CONDUCT A REFERENDUM?” he asked
A referendum is just like a national election and the possibility of holding two national elections at a time is a question he raised also.
“People are even reluctant to vote for candidates, for people. Can they vote for ideas that they don’t understand, they know nothing about? It’s a mockery and I repeat it is… pursuing a narrow political objective which serves the country no good and we all should object; we all should be opposed to uphold illegality,” said Cllr. Verdier as though he was outrage.
At this point, his argument came to dwell on Article 92 of the Constitution which provides for publishing the rationale for changing each of the articles of the Constitution in a referendum before the conduct of the referendum itself.
According to Article 92, “Proposed constitutional amendments shall be accompanied by statements setting forth the reasons therefor, and shall be published in the Official Gazette and made known to the people through the information services of the Republic. If more than one proposed amendment is to be voted upon in a referendum they shall be submitted in such manner that the people may vote for or against them separately.”
Accordingly, Verdier referred to this Article, averring, “…I am saying that they have hidden the propositions from the Liberian people; it should be published one year in advance before the National Referendum. And so they have not been published in March, and I know it will not be published in April, it means that Referendum should not be held before March of 2012…”
Defining this argument further, Cllr. Verdier said it meant “… that after the elections, we can come together as a nation and a people to conduct the referendum under the calm atmosphere.”
In the opened and outright manner, the boss of the defunct TRC accentuated, “The propositions are disservice to us and insult to our intelligence as a people who have survived a fourteen year conflict and are determined to build peace in Liberia”
In a nutshell, all of the speakers at the PUL function said the National Referendum before the 2011 elections is irrelevant and will violate Articles 91 and 92 of the Liberian Constitution.
No Constitutional foundation
Mr. Mark Marvey of the National Youth Movement for Transparent Elections, who opened the floor, was the first to assert that the planned referendum is not premised on constitutional foundation.
He referred to Article 91 of the Constitution providing that voting in a referendum conducted by the Elections Commission is not sooner than one year after legislative approval and cited Article 92 stating the setting forth of reasons for the changes in an official gazette to the people through the information services available to the Republic.
Mavey also noted that the issues presented in the referendum proposal are irrelevant and politically motivated.
He said the rationales for the changes proposed have not been explained to the Liberian people in a published gazette while the proposed change affecting Article 52(c) of the Constitution requiring 5-Year Residency instead of 10 years for presidential candidates prior to election only serves the political interest of incumbent candidates.
Marvey also said proposed changes of Article 72 redefining the terms of judges in the pending referendum, and the change affecting the absolute Majority voting provision in Article 83(b) were self-seeking and unnecessary.
He also added that the change in election schedule from October to November was also irrelevant.