-raises red flag
The main opposition Collaborating Political Parties has raised red flag on the just ended Special Senatorial election and highlighted alleged foul play.
CPP in statement issued in Monrovia, dated December 14 states that while the election day itself was relatively peacefully with Liberians voting in a way that signals a clear and unequivocal rejection of the ruling CDC (especially in the most populous counties) because of bad governance, wanton looting of state resources by a privileged few, ‘mysterious killing of professional Liberians’ and a host of other vices, the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change has in cohort with the ‘compromised’ National Elections Commission (NEC) hatched another plan to steal the elections in some of the leeward counties and the Montserrado by-election.
The statement added that in Nimba County; there is evidence of tally sheet manipulations at the tallying center in favor of the candidate supported by the government against CPP Candidate Edith Gongloe-Weh, allegedly swapping votes to another candidate, broken seal on ballot boxes and a host of other irregularities. The opposition said NEC workers were also observed to have carelessly handled ballot papers which questioned the integrity and credibility of the process in certain places.
The CPP specifically pointed out that in Gbarpolu County, state securities are effectively blocking supporters of Independent Candidate BotoeKanneh from entering Nomodatonau Town where a rerun election is expected to be held today, Tuesday, December 15, 2020 to complete the senatorial election in that county, and also intimidating voters in a bid to deter them from voting for the candidate of their choice.
“There is a voice recording circulating of the superintendent of Gbarpolu, mandating government employees in the county to vote for the CDC candidate. The action of the ruling CDC and the government in Nimba and Gbarpolu proves that the CDC will do everything to ensure that women are not elected to the Liberian senate,” the statement said.
The main opposition also noted that in Grand Kru County, the CDC in their desperation to win at any cost, is again in cohort with the NEC to elevate through electoral fraud, the candidate contesting on the CDC’s ticket who was ranking third, to a winning position at the expense of two other candidates in the lead, vowing that CPP will stand toe to toe with the independent candidates and candidates from other parties in the opposition bloc to ensure that the actual winner of the race in Grand Kru is announced by the NEC.
The CPP stressed that in the District 9 bi-election in Montserrado County, scores of voters were disenfranchised either by the incompetency of the NEC or intentional transfer of voters in areas where our candidate was most popular. Most of the voters who registered at the Jorkpen Town Market, one of many precincts in District 9, were told they could not vote because they had been transferred to Blamasi Town in District 17.
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The CPP condemns this deliberate act by the NEC and would be demanding a rerun at that precinct so as to enable legally registered voters to cast their ballots.
The CPP under the stewardship of Chairman Alexander Cummings said that the pre-marked ballots were discovered at other precincts in District 9 including the Don Bosco precinct on elections day. The matter was reported to the police and several observe documented the incident in their reports. We will also be demanding a rerun at those precincts.
Commenting on the issue of the 2020 National Referendum, it strongly cautioned the National Elections Commission not to in any way tamper with the results.
“Counting in our situation rooms across the country showed that none of the propositions acquired the required 2/3rd YES votes to be passed. In fact, our records of count showed that there were more NO votes than YES. The CPP along with civil society organizations and other opposition political parties will keenly monitor the tallying of the referendum votes. We call on the government to respect the will of the people and not tamper with their votes or intimidate them.
The CPP will not accept any results that do not reflect the will of the people. We will continue to protect the votes of the people and the integrity of these elections. The CPP congratulates all of its winning candidates and those independent candidates that have also been declared winners. We also extend our congratulations to winning candidates of other political parties within the opposition bloc,’ the CPP concludes.
–Editing by Jonathan Browne
