Time to work

President-elect George Weah stresses here that it is time for the three branches of the Liberian government to work actively for the betterment of the Liberian people.

He says gone are the days of campaign, verbal and physical attacks on one another, political parties and candidates, noting that it is time for all Liberians to rally support in moving the country by offering their best skills.

Speaking Thursday, 4 January when he was certificated along with his Vice President-elect Jewel Howard Taylor and Representatives-elect of the Lower House, Weah reminds that the progress of the country depends on all Liberians’ efforts and there is no room for failure.

“There were comments during the campaign that I think were not necessary but, elections have come and gone; it is time for serious work and deliverables. Failure is not an option, we as a country need to work for development, and development can only be achieved by hard work carried out by all Liberians,” he emphasizes.

Speaking earlier at the NEC headquarters, its Chairman Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya says certificates presented to lawmakers do not only represent conferral of legitimacy, adding, “To pronounce you to the world as the duly elected officials but also embodiment of the power, trust and aspiration reposed in you by various constituents and the people of Liberia.”

Chairman Korkoya further notes that when the majority of voters, who turned out to vote in the October 10th elections and the run-off election of December 26, selected them (representatives) on the ballot, they did so considering them as the best candidates to lead the country for the next six years to meet their aspirations and fulfill their hopes.

“This certificate therefore constitutes your sufficient authority to perform the functions for which you were elected. You cannot and should not disappoint the trust of the people,” he cautions.

Korkoya points out that the success would not have been possible without the support of the Liberian government. “For this the commission is grateful to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for leading the first democratic transition of authority from one elected government to another in 73 years,” he notes.

The certification of elected officials legalizes their respective offices following both elections, ahead of formal inauguration of President-elect George Weah his Vice, Jewel Taylor on 22 January at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium in Paynesville, outside Monrovia, which will mark the first democratic transition of political power since 1944.

By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor -Editing by Jonathan Browne