For weeks now, the entire Liberian nation has been effectively held hostage as a result of the ongoing political rivalry triggered by attempts by a group of lawmakers to unseat the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 55th Legislature.
The legislative group which described itself as “Majority Bloc” flagged a number of claims against House Speaker, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa, including conflict of interest, tempering with the 2023 National Budget among others while the Speaker Koffa was on national assignments in the United States and Italy.
Although speaker rejected those allegations and called for peaceful dialogue, he has been campaigning for the national legislature to be audited, a call that may have incited his removal drama.
Nevertheless, the speaker underscored the need for dialogue among members of the House of Representatives as opposed to confrontation in addressing the prevailing crisis that is having far-reaching and severe impacts on national governance and the nation as a whole.
This political misunderstanding reached the nation’s high court recently when the justice in chambers ordered that the process leading to the removal of the speaker should be done in accordance to the due process of law.
It is predicated upon this ugly development, and the urgent need to amicably address the situation that we, at The INDEPENDENT Newspaper, reiterate our earlier call for members of the 55th House of Representatives to find a common ground.
Frankly, the prolongation of the House of Representatives raging tussle for power is severely impacting the socio-economic and the general wellbeing of the citizens.
To allow such a horrible situation to continue in the first year of President Joesph Nyuma Boakai administration is not only a classic display of unpatriotic, imprudent and irrational treatment of the vast majority of the Liberian people but also total neglect of the lawmakers’ constitutional responsibility to ensure nothing less than lawmaking laws, representation and oversight for the benefit of the Liberian Nation.
In summary, the House of Representatives of the 55th Legislature must listen to peace makers including former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberia Council of Churches, the Senate, and other stakeholders without any further delay, by resolving its current leadership crisis in the best interest of Liberia and its people.
Good politicians should be able to negotiate and dialogue on issues affecting their people rather than engaging in unnecessary grand-standing outside of the law. The law is higher than any political maneuvering in any democratic governance.
Moreover, we, at The INDEPENDENT Newspaper find it prudent and necessary the recent decision by the Supreme Court of Liberia that the “Majority Bloc” should embrace the due process of law in addressing the matter.
In other words, the Legislators must embrace dialogue and peaceful settlement, and not confrontation.
