Don’t relax rule of law

Former solicitor general and human rights lawyer Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe has opposed any attempt to suspend or relax any portion of the rule of law in Liberia, stressing that laws are meant to be respected by all.

Speaking on a local radio station here, Cllr. Gongloe says the law should never be relaxed just to favor a certain group of people, saying “The laws are meant for the whole country, we need to follow the rule of law than to suspend it.”

His comments come in the wake of reports here on Wednesday, 7 June that group of lawmakers from both the Liberian Senate and the House of Representatives have been meeting with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf behind closed doors at Farmington Hotel in Margibi County outside Monrovia on the controversy Code of Conduct for public officials, which requires appointed officials seeking elective positions to resign two or three years prior to elections.

He argues that failure to respect the rule of law, could lead the country to failure, reminding that before any provision of the law is suspended or relaxed, it has to go thru amendment.

Cllr. Gonloe continues if it were a provision of the Constitution, it must go for referendum. “We cannot be going by the rules and order of other people or else, Liberia will be setting a page for failure, only by abiding by the rule of laws, this country will sustain peace.”

He maintains that the Code of Conduct should be enforced, because it controls the people who are in elected positions and gives them credit, so that they can lead rightly.

By Ethel Tweh-Editing by Jonathan Browne