The major fear among many Liberians is that the delays in the court may push their country into an interim government, which is provided for by Article 64 of the Constitution.
Article 64 states: “Whenever the office of the President and of the Vice-President shall become vacant by reason of removal, death, resignation, inability or other disability of the President and Vice-President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be sworn in as Acting President until the holding of elections to fill the vacancies so created.
“Should the Speaker be legally incapable or otherwise unable to assume the office of Acting President, then the same shall devolve in order upon the Deputy Speaker and members of the Cabinet in the order of precedence as established by law.
“The Elections Commission shall within ninety days conduct elections for a new President and a new Vice-President.”
According to legal experts quoted by FrontPage Africa, a Liberian daily newspaper, the “other disability” mentioned by the Constitution includes the expiration of the tenures of the incumbent President and the Vice President..
By the provision of Article 50 of the Constitution, the tenures of outoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her Vice, Mr Joseph Boakai, expires on Jan. 22, 2018.
Sirleaf, a Nobel Prize winner and Africa’s first female president, assumed office on Jan. 16, 2006 after winning the 2005 presidential election. She was re-elected in 2011 and began her second term in 2012.
Article 50 states: “The President shall be elected by universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for a term of six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections. No person shall serve as President for more than two terms.”
The concern here is lack of adequate time to resolve the legal challenge surrounding the election before Jan. 22, which is just a little over two months away.
On Monday, the Supreme Court will resume sitting at 10 a.m where it will decide whether or not to lift the Writ of Prohibition on the presidential run-off election earlier slated for Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The apex court had last Tuesday issued the order following a petition filed by opposition figure, Mr Charles Brumskine, who is the presidential candidate of Liberty Party (LP) in the Oct. 10 general elections.
Brumskine finished third in the first round with 149,495 votes or 9.6 per cent of the total 1,641,922 votes cast. He is calling for a re-run on the allegation that the general polls were marred by fraud and irregularities.
Ex-football star, Mr George Weah and incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai, both of whom scored the highest votes with 38.4 and 29.8 per cent respectively will slug it out in the run-off.
To make matters worse, three major political parties, including the ruling Unity Party (UP) whose presidential candidate is Vice President Boakai, have joined forces with Brumskine to challenge the credibility of the Oct. 10 polls and call for a re-run.
The other two are the All Liberian Party (ALP) and the Alternative National Congress (ANC). ANC’s candidate and prominent businessman, Mr Alexander Cummings, finished fifth in the first round.
Except the Supreme Court rules against the petitioners and lift the stay order on the run-off, the case promises to threaten the Jan. 22 handover date.
Article Article 83c of the Constitution spells out the process of election petitions in Liberia.
It states: “Any party or candidate who complains about the manner in which the elections were conducted or who challenges the results thereof shall have the right to file a complaint with the (National) Elections Commission. Such complaint must be filed not later than seven days after the announcement of the results of the elections.
“The Elections Commission shall, within thirty days of receipt of the complaint, conduct an impartial investigation and render a decision which may involve a dismissal of the complaint or a nullification of the election of a candidate.
“Any political party or independent candidate affected by such decision shall not later than seven days appeal against it to the Supreme Court.
“The Elections Commission shall within seven days of receipt of the notice of appeal, forward all the records in the case to the Supreme Court, which not later than seven days thereafter, shall hear and make its determination.
“If the Supreme Court nullifies or sustains the nullification of the election of any candidate, for whatever reasons, the Elections commission shall within sixty days of the decision of the Court conduct new elections to fill the vacancy.
“If the court sustains the election of a candidate, the Elections Commission shall act to effectuate the mandate of the Court.”
At Friday’s sitting, the Chief Justice of Liberia, Francis Korkpor, made it clear that the case currently before the Supreme Court was not about the merit and demerit of Brumskine’s allegations of fraud in the general elections.
Korkpor explained that the case of electoral fraud and irregularities was still before the NEC, and that the Supreme Court would only get involved if there was an appeal to the Court after a petition to the NEC Board of Commissioners was denied.
He noted that the apex court’s role in the current matter was to determine whether or not there was cause to order prohibition on the run-off election.
Brumskine, a legal practitioner, reportedly told the court that his application for the Writ of Prohibition followed the failure of NEC to look into his petition before fixing date and commencing preparations for the run-off.
“The action taken by NEC not to investigate our complaint, and to call for run-off election deprived us due process of law.
“The run-off election can only be held if only there was no complaint filed against the election result,” Brumskine was quoted as saying.
NEC, which reportedly argued its case through Mr Musa Dean, said the Liberty Party’s complaint was still an allegation and that the commission was acting within the scope of the Constitution.
“Your Honour, this complaint is still at the level of allegation, it has not been proven.
“The Constitution requires that when a complaint is filed it should be disposed of before coming to the attention of Supreme Court.
“But this was not done in this case and that every complaint must be absorbed at the level of the National Elections Commission,” Dean told the court, according to reports.
He then prayed the Supreme Court not to grant the Writ of Prohibition sought by the Liberty Party.
Now the permutations: If the apex court accepts Brumskine’s argument, it then means the prohibition order stays until NEC concludes its investigation into the LP candidate’s complaint and gives its verdict. This may not come soon.
Besides, Brumskine will hardly accept the verdict of NEC which is likely not to favour him, and then return to the Supreme Court with his appeal. Is two months enough to resolve the legal issue?
This is why many Liberians believe that their country is in a delicate political and constitutional dilemma, and they are worried.
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