Gbarpolu County – The urge for a peaceful transfer of power in Liberia for the first time in over seven decades continue to resonate despite ongoing legal bickering over the result of the first round of voting.
In Gabrpolu County, locals are also expressing optimism and are calling on their compatriots to ensure peace and respect for the court jurisdiction.
“The stage we reached now we need to be talking to each other so that we can make history again,” said Alfred B. Scott, coordinator of the rural Human Right Activist programmers.
Scott was amongst several young activists speaking at a youth meeting on November 1 in Bopolu City. He said the sustainability of the country’s peace lies in the hands of every Liberian including the Supreme Court who is hearing the case between the Liberty Party and the National Elections Commission over alleged irregularities and fraud into the October 10 polls.
Scott is confident the court would adjudicate the matter in accordance with the law and called on parties involved to respect the outcome.
At the gathering, youth hailed the Liberty Party for taking a legal stance against the election commission since they felt cheated.
Aloysius Miller, a youth of Bondi Clan, said Liberians should laud the party for not resolving to protest and chaos despite their dissatisfaction with the vote results.
“We should commend them for not moving their supporters to get into the streets to hamper our electoral process,” Miller said.
Added Lawrence Varmah of the Mano River Union Youth Parliament Liberia chapter: “It is our responsibility as the youth of this county and Liberia at large to resist any means of violence and peruse the peace we continue to enjoy even during this critical time of our electoral processes.”
For his part, Sylvester Gotolo Varmah, the coordinator of the Gbarpolu County Peace Committee, called on Liberians to remain peaceful following the verdict by the high court.
And Deddeh Guzza, a student of Bomi community college annex in Bopolu City said the ongoing legal proceeding is a litmus test for Liberia’s democracy.
“This court business is testing us as Liberians whether we love ourselves and country and that will be manifested through our actions after the Supreme Court rules between the NEC and Liberty Party very soon,” she said.
“The court judgment will not please everyone. Right now, some of us are supporting either side, so let our actions after the high court of our land verdict, and prove to the rest of the world that we are an independent nation.”
For Anthony Morlu, a resident of Bopolu City, he said: “We are happy to see the legal dispute-resolution procedures provided in article 83.C of the Liberian constitution. So it is our hope that the accuser including other 20 parties who took part in the elections will also accept the ruling OF our Supreme Court.”
NEC Chairman Jerome Korkoya recently announced that the presidential run-off election is impossible to be held on November 7 as scheduled based on the litigation against the commission. His announcement came following the stay order placed of the election by the Supreme Court.
And the NEC’s Gbarpolu County office then halted all presidential run-off activities that were scheduled to begin on November 2.
Kollie Lamendine, the NEC magistrate in the county, told poll workers they would only resume work after the court rule into the matter.
Disputed results announced by the commission after the first round voting put George Weah of Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party into a run-off since none of the two acquired more than 50 percent of the votes as stipulated in the elections law.
Senator Weah obtained 38.4 percent of the total valid votes while Vice President Boakai claimed 28.8 percent of the total valid votes.
Report By: Henry B. Gboluma, Jr.
