EDITORIAL – Discouraging Any Idea Of An Interim Gov’t

In recent times, the issue of the enactment into law of a national threshold by the Liberian Legislature has been on the lips of all well-meaning Liberians with a lot of frustrations, considering the length of time that document has spent with our lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Two years on one document- political bickering because of trickery or just political mischief?  It’s just enough to frustrate anyone.

This is why, we at the New Dawn continue to share the concerns of all who support the passage of the national threshold in accordance with article 88D of the Liberian Constitution devoid of all political tactics by those who don’t mean well for the people they claim to represent either in the House of Representatives or the Liberian Senate. Even with a proposed concurrence by representatives of the populated counties for the passage of the threshold at 54,500 per constituency as passed by the senate, provided the effects are felt by all, there’s still disagreement.

Of course, the contention by representatives and senators of the depopulated counties at the moment remained that passage could only be possible at 46,000 per constancy as passed by the House of Representatives or 54,500 as passed by the Liberian Senate provided no county receive less than two seats.

And while we share such frustration, may we also beg to defer with our compatriots who are suggesting an Interim Government, if the national threshold bill dies an “artificial death” at the hands of lawmakers, who many well-meaning Liberians are now referring to as undesirable citizens. May we also remind the proponents of the idea of an interim government that were we to thread this path, we would only be suggesting that our country is unstable, despite claims by us that we have since graduated  from the period of instability.

We would also be suggesting our inability to solve our own problems or make decisions of own, as far as our country’s  socio-economic and political development are concerned. What we at the New Dawn think well-meaning Liberians could do is to continue to pressurize lawmakers and others who continue to oppose to the passage of the threshold for selfish reasons in all forms-whether on radio, in the newspapers or other public gatherings.

We must make ordinary Liberians to understand that these are the people that have and continue to violate the constitution of Liberia, and that they must be held responsible for all problems that may arise out of the delays in the passage of the national threshold bill.

To succeed in this campaign, we must divorce ourselves from all forms of sentiments, political affiliations (partisanship) and personal relationships, and look at our country, Liberia as a nation progressing towards true democracy.

We must visit the electoral districts of these anti-threshold lawmakers to tell Liberians there that these people do not represent them, but their personal interests to hold our country hostage.

We must indicate to them that when this threshold bill was first passed by both Houses at 40,000 per constituency with a clause that no county receive less than two seats, no representatives or senators ever went to court or raised issues as such as they are presently doing. When vetoed by the President of Liberia for constitutional reason due to the clause, and later passed again at 40,000 without a clause by the same representatives and senators, there was again no intentional political bickering. We must tell their constituents to ask them WHY NOW are they creating these hurdles?

This is our call to all well-meaning Liberians. And not to support any idea of an interim government or whatsoever. We are in total disagreement with those calling for such. Our country is already faced with a continuing unsuccessful fight against corruption, and so, let us not encourage an arrangement that would further drown this nation into economic anarchy. Let’s discourage any idea of an interim government.