The Collaborating Political Parties says it is deeply concerned and troubled by ongoing events growing out of the ‘fraudulent conduct of the Senatorial Election in Nimba County, in which its candidate, Madam Edith Gongloe-Weh, is being cheated out of her legitimate electoral victory.
In a statement released to the media Monday, December 28, the opposition CPP calls for a rerun of elections at centers where evidence have shown that frauds occurred in Nimba.
“Our poll-watchers and technical team on elections have uncovered that the Nimba County Senatorial Election was characterized by widespread fraud and irregularities which clearly undermined the credibility of the election and circumvented the will and pleasure of the people. In addition, our technical team have uncovered the following,” the statement under the signature of the CPP secretariat said.
The CPP under the chairmanship of Alexander Cummings highlighted that the deliberate inconsistencies in the numbers on the official record of count issued to their observers on the day of the election, compared to those published by the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the unauthorized and illegal substitution of sensitive election materials with the objective of perpetrating fraud; the deliberate exposure of votes to the ends of perpetrating fraud.
The statement intimated that the reported misfeasance and malfeasance on the part of NEC Officials; the chasing of their poll workers out of some polling places by local officials, thus depriving the candidate her right to obtaining authentic information of the conduct of the election in those places and the CPP evidence shows that these acts of fraud and irregularities were orchestrated against Madam Weh the ultimate choice of the people, in favor of Representative Jeremiah Koung, the regime-sponsored candidate.
CPP lamented that as an alliance that is acclaimed for adherence to the rule of law, they are currently challenging the outcome of the Nimba County Senatorial Election for the foregoing reasons.
From all the evidence in possession of their technical and legal teams, they are convinced that their candidate, Madam Edith Gongloe-Weh would have won the election by a convincing and irreversible margin if the fraud and irregularities which marked the process were never orchestrated and the bare minimum standards for credible elections were upheld.
“While our legal challenge of the election result is ongoing, the regime has allegedly embarked on a clearly fruitless effort to clean the trail of its mess by going to magisterial centers in the county to tamper with voting records. About two days ago, at 3 A.M., residents of Sanniquellie alarmed over the surreptitious movement of people identified as officials of the NEC, accompanied by officers of the Liberia National Police, at a Magisterial Center in the county. This prompted the unprovoked arrest and ill-treatment of the Secretary General of Liberty Party’s Nimba County Chapter, Mr. Princeton Lofan, by officers of the Liberian National Police,” the CPP added.
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The CPP in no uncertain terms condemns acts of violence meted out against peaceful citizens who alarmed over the alleged, strange joint-operations of NEC and LNP personnel in the county and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of LP’s Secretary General and all those arrested in the aftermath of the aforementioned events, or we would begin unspecified political actions to demand their release.
“We believe that they have done absolutely nothing wrong to warrant such blatant violation of their rights; a conduct reminiscent of the days of jungle justice, coup d’ etat and all forms of civil unrest in our country. The CPP will do everything both politically and legally to ensure that the results representing the votes the people of Nimba cast are announced. We shall not sit idly and allow the regime rob the people of Nimba of a victory they deserve through repression, reckless vote rigging, etcetera. We are determined to fight this matter to its legal and political conclusions with all the energy and resources we can possibly command,” the statement concluded.
By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor
