‘Credibility of Election Will Be Determined By Implementation of Code of Conduct’

 

Monrovia - The Chairman of the opposition Coalition for Democratic (CDC) Nathaniel McGill is calling for the implementation of the Code of Conduct, noting that doing so will determine the credibility of the 2017 presidential and legislative election.

McGill in a news symposium Wednesday said as a party that have faith in the rule of law, they will abide by whatever law that is pertaining to the elections.

“With reference to the Code of Conduct, our opinion is that the law should be deal with the Code of Conduct.

“If it is not dealt with in a fair and transparent manner, it could endanger the credibility of the elections before it even starts.”

“Anyone who is trying to give a different meaning to the law, that person is trying to undermine the electoral process and ensure that there is a crisis.”

Since the Supreme Court ruled on the Code of Conduct, politicians who believe they have been affected by article 5.1 of that law have issued disclaimers of not been affected by the law while others have pointed fingers specifically naming some major actor whom they believe are affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In the case of Mr. Karnwea, he was named one month after joining the Liberty Party as vice standard bearer of the opposition LP two days after he resigned from the FDA, a decision many critics of the LP have said, is a complete defiance to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Code of Conduct.

Some of those affected by the Code of Conduct and their supporters are confident of being let off the hook relying on the ambiguous definition of the word “desire” used in Section 5.1 & 5.2 of the Code of Conduct.

During the interview McGill argued that Article 51 of the Liberian Constitution states that there shall be a vice President and shall contest on the same political ticket with the President, so to McGill with this provision the definition for Desire given by many does not hold water or has no legal basis.

He expressed hopefulness that the pending election will be free, fair and transparent even though the CDC had earlier raised some issues with the voter registration process.

“We had some concerns with the voter registration process and we raised it and that is what we have tried to do during these periods of election."

"Our issue is not to accuse anyone of trying to manipulate the process, but to ensure that the process is free fair and credible.

 “There are attempts by some individuals who know they will not win election but want to cause confusion and the CDC will oppose anyone who knows she/he cannot win and wants to cause confusion. We are very prepared to compete with anyone at all fronts,” he stated.

 

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