Press statement by Cllr. Charles Brumskine

This is a great time for our country, and all of us, as Liberians. But firstly, we would like to acknowledge, with thanks, the patience of the Liberian people, especially the supporters of the two political parties that should have participated in the November 7 Runoff, and those who have since endorsed them. We thank the international community, and especially our African brothers and sisters of the AU and the ECOWAS, for allowing the legal process, which was commenced on October 23, to come to its legal and logical conclusion.

Most importantly, we would like to thank the National Executive Committee of the Liberty Party, the National Campaign Team, the various auxiliaries of the Liberty Party, and last, but not least our devoted partisans of Liberty Party throughout the country.

We also thank all Liberians and non-Liberian residents alike, for allowing, or at least tolerating, us to intrude in their personal space during our campaign activities.

Our country has come of age—finally we can disagree and not kill each other and destroy our country. But also, the Supreme Court can rule against an aggrieved political party, and its judgment is accepted, notwithstanding our disagreement, as to both the Court’s determination of the facts and their conclusion of the law. Our people are truly witnessing the transition from negative to positive peace. This is a very proud time for all Liberians!

This is the first time in the history of our country that we have had such elections, not policed by foreign peacekeepers, with allegations of widespread violation of constitutional rights, massive fraud, and pervasive gross irregularities without the death of a single person, not even an injury. Our country has indeed come of age, and we invite the world to celebrate with us.

As I have always said, our legal action and pursuit of justice was not just about me, or just about the Liberty Party. Our effort has been on behalf of every Liberian—those Liberians that stood on line for hours, only to be told that they were on the wrong queue; those Liberians who were told that their names were not in the final voter registration roll; those who had to pay to have their names listed in note books, the addenda, before they were allowed to vote; those Liberians whose ballots were taken out of ballot boxes by the NEC officials, and replaced by others; and, the hundreds of thousands of voters whose votes were diluted because of Amos Siebo-like voting registration cards—fraudulent voter registration cards. Our effort was about changing the trajectory of our country, and laying a firm foundation for our democracy.

We are disappointed by the ruling of the Supreme Court, which among other things, has violated our equal protection right, as provided in Article 11(c) of the Constitution. The Court ordered the correction of some of the things that we complained of, that made the electoral process unconstitutional and unlawful that contributed to massive fraud, and pervasive irregularities, as conditions for holding the Runoff, but failed to similarly ensure equal protection for the other eighteen political parties that participated in the first round of the elections.

But let us enjoy the blessings of God, as we celebrate our effort over the last six weeks, attempting to introduce integrity in Liberia’s electoral system, and making every valid vote count. So not even the opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Court should be allowed to serve as a distraction. We must continue to try; we must continue to fight for the sake of our children and grandchildren, and for our country. Liberia will get it right!

We, therefore, call upon all of our partisans to remain calm and law abiding, as our country prepares for the runoff election.