Executive Mansion reacts to Speaker Tyler

The Office of the Press Secretary to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says its attention has been drawn to the Monday June 27, 2016 Press Conference by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, J. Alex Tyler in which he made several grave allegations against the person and office of the President of the Republic of Liberia.

“We were totally shocked that when our country was engulfed with the historic visit of the First Lady of the United States of America, Mrs. Michelle Robinson Obama, the sitting Speaker of the 53rd Legislature would make such baseless and unfounded comments”, a press release issued by Presidential Press Secretary Piah reads.

The release says although Mrs. Obama’s visit was an occasion that witnessed the involvement and participation of senior officials of all branches of the Liberian Government, it was a complete surprise for the 3rd ranking official of the Government of Liberia to attempt to take away the focus from the positives of the US First Lady’s visit to gossip politics.

“We reject all of the claims made by Speaker Tyler and can simply term his action as a mere scare-crow tactics principally because they are far from the truth. We dismiss as falsehood and totally baseless the insinuation about “the President-led plot” to use inducement for the removal of the Speaker when there are very important matters of state that need to be urgently attended to.”

The office called on Speaker Tyler to exercise leadership in resolving the pending crisis at the House of Representatives instead of bringing his colleagues and the Office of the President into public disrepute through the wild and unsubstantiated claims he has made.

It clarified that President Sirleaf cannot and will not be drawn into fractious contestation where none exists, adding “This is why over the years; she has had an amicable working relationship with the Legislature and its leadership, as well as other components of the Government of Liberia.”

The release said the President has gone over many times at the National Legislature to ensure that the fundamental principles of the three separate, but equal and coordinate branches of government remain cardinal and the pinnacle around which the government development agenda must anchor it axis.

The office said it chose to formally respond to these baseless claims just for the records, and will not spend time and energy on such matters but rather on matters that will improve the nation and impact the lives of the citizens.

“We assure Liberians that the current state of affairs in the House, which is stalling our national development agenda will be eventually settled and encourage all, including Speaker Tyler and his colleagues to keep the focus on the things that matter for the Liberian people”, the release concluded. Press release