–Sen. Snowe warns
Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe has begun sounding a warning that if nothing is done with Liberia’s Elections Law, 2023 will be a disaster when everyone pursue court cases against elections results.
Sen. Snowe who saw his certification as winner of the December 8, 2020 senatorial election delayed as a result of electoral disputes told reporters on Capitol Hill that there is a need for reforms of the country’s electoral laws.
He said this is because the issue of litigations after election tends to stall [the final] process of certificating the winner.
Speaking with Legislative reporters this week, Snowe warns that there will be candidates for 73 representative seats, 15 senatorial seats and presidential candidates in 2023, adding that if everyone decides to go to court, it will cause a serious problem in the country.
Following the 8 December polls, Snowe observes that there are six outstanding senators that are yet to be seated due to legal disputes over the results.
He argues that some of these allegations are so cheap, but are just intended to stall the process.
“It’s either we set up a special court for election dispute or we agree that when the elections commission announce you [as] winner, they should certificate you and you take your seat like it is done in other countries,” Snowe recommends.
“When you’re guilty, you leave; and if you’re not guilty, you continue your work,” Snowe adds.He fears that if nothing is done with the Elections Law, 2023 will be a disaster.
He also laments that during elections, one candidate is given all the National Transit Authority (NTA) buses in the country to truck people from one county to another to register potential voters. He describes this as a misuse of public property.Meanwhile, Snowe suggests that there is a need that biometric system be applied in Liberia as it is done in other countries, so that people cannot register in more than one county.
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Addressing other issues, Senator Snowe says he is supporting the wife of the late Lahai Lassana Madam Alice Finda Lassana to fill the representative seat he left vacant following his election to the Liberian Senate last December.
He recalls in 2017, Madam Lassana was a contestant in Bomi County, but withdrew from the election just to support him.The Bomi Senator says despite his support for women empowerment, Madam Lassana is a politician and she’s competent to take over from him.
He notes that it is good for someone who understands him to take over from him, noting that someone who has different view will be a problem.
By Ethel A Tweh– Edited by Winston W. Parley
