UP surrenders

The governing Unity Party says it accepts the opinion of the Supreme Court on its alleged fraud and irregularities complaint jointly filed with the Liberty Party and others against the National Elections Commission. But the LP announced that it takes exception to the ruling.

“This decision, and the road we took with collaborating parties, are unprecedented and should give all of us hope that the future of our democracy and country is bright. Liberians can now celebrate the triumph of the rule of law! Liberians can now celebrate their resolve to pursue the non-violent means of solving problems”, says UP Standard Bearer Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai in a statement minutes after the High Court gives its opinion.

The Court opines that claims of “fraud and irregularities” from the October 10 polls aren’t sufficient to warrants a rerun of the entire elections as prayed by the complainants, and therefore, mandates the NEC to announce a new date for the conduct of the runoff presidential between the Unity Party and the Coalition for Democratic Change.

“To the hundreds of thousands of partisans of the Unity Party and supporters of our campaign, we say thank you for remaining on our side through these several weeks. We heard you and felt your pains”, Vice President Boakai continues and calls on UP partisans to engage the electoral process with the same zeal, zest and interest as before.

“Remember that the future of the country is in your hands. Sitting on the fence would give you one unpleasant result–living with a choice you neither wanted nor made. I today issue this clarion call to all Unity Partisans, particularly those who felt left out or disenfranchised for whatever reason, to rally around us as we move to score final victory.”

Meanwhile, the UP standard bearer is calling on Liberians to pray for what he terms “the delivery of our nation.” He calls on all places of worship across the country to summon the grace of God as they stand at the precipice of national renewal, urging, “No matter your belief, your faith must compel you to love our country.”

He notes that until the elections are over, every Liberian must carry a white handkerchief and a flag in defend of the Motherland and for victory at the ballot box.
The ruling party receives barrage of criticisms for joining the Liberty Party and others in challenging the poll results despite being certificated by the NEC to go for the runoff against the CDC.

But the UP argues that its intervention in support of the Liberty Party’s challenge was not a selfish or opportunistic one, nor was it in any way a strategy to unnecessarily cause delay and prolong the electoral process, as alleged by detractors.

“To the contrary, our stance was anchored in the Unity Party’s principle to promote and foster a culture of fair and transparent elections in the country for the present and future generations”, says VP Boakai.

He says the party made a responsible and patriotic choice to resort to the rule of law over violence and protests, saying “We chose respect for the rule of law over looting, pillaging and destruction of properties. For those of us who have lived long enough, we know how elections have been conflict prone.”
But LP Cllr. Charles Brumskine said in a prepared statement that the party is disappointed with the superior court ruling.

“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,” he said.