The second face of the State of Emergency announced by President M. Weah is said to be getting another setback as Members of the House of Representatives failed to debate the extension of the State of Emergency Tuesday, July7, due to lack of quorum.
President George Manneh Weah recently extended the State of Emergency by additional 30 days and reversed the 9:00 pm lockdown to 6:00pm daily following rapid increase of coronavirus cases here.
Some members of the House of Representatives Tuesday gathered at the chamber of the House along with Speaker Chambers in readiness for regular session but they could not obtain a quorum.
According to the Rules of the House of Representatives, lawmakers are to attend session every Tuesday and Thursday and that at least 37 of the 103 membership should be present to meet a quorum. But only 26 lawmakers showed up Tuesday for work.
High on the agenda for Tuesday’s session was a communication from the Liberian Senate, seeking the House of Representatives’ concurrence of a joint resolution, approving the extension of the State of Emergency declared by the President.
Also on the agenda was a joint resolution to conduct national census in 2021, including a communication from Montserrado County district #10 Representative Yekeh Y. Kolubah, seeking authorization of Plenary to summon the Minister of Commerce and Industry to brief that body on the availability of rice on the Liberian market and reason for hick in price, among others.
On 22nd June President George M. Weah extended the SOE by one month with approval from the Legislature. It has been 15 days since the President made that announcement and nothing has been done by the House of Representative.
But River Gee County district #3 Representative Francis S. Dopoh, recently called on President Weah to revoke the request for extension, arguing that the SOE has passed time line set by the Constitution of Liberia for legislative approval.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
By Bridgett Milton–Editing by Jonathan Browne
