Africa-Press – Liberia. Alexander Cummings has expressed deep reservations about the impartiality of the National Election Commission (NEC), just as he and other presidential candidates are about to hold a crucial meeting with the electoral board today.
The meeting, as called for by the NEC in collaboration with ECOWAS and UN officials in Liberia, is expected to address some key issues surrounding the October 10 polls as the campaign opens on August 5.
The meeting, according to a release, is a reaffirmation of the Board of Commissioners’ pledge and determination to apply all of the best practices to ensure a peaceful electoral process and further deepen the understanding of the aspirants about ongoing preparations for the election.
According to Cummings, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), which he heads, have a problem with the electoral body’s current Board of Commissioners, which necessitates the CPP’s lack of confidence in the ongoing electoral processes.
He cited the alleged failure of Weah to adhere to a “mandate from ECOWAS” to have opposition politicians nominate a few of the electoral body Commissioners as some of the problems he and his collaborators have had, with the appointees creating a “partisan commission.”
“This is a good practice that the opposition recommends to some commissioners. The prior government of President Sirleaf allowed the opposition to nominate three of the seven Commissioners, including the current Chair, Davidetta Browne-Lasannah who was nominated by President Weah. That practice was a mandate and so, there is a perception of a partisan commission.”
“We do have some concerns about the NEC’s capability, capacity, and this government’s intention to hold free, fair, and transparent elections,” Cummings disclosed yesterday during an interview on Joy FM. The lack of adequate funding for the commission to execute its statutory mandate remains another serious concern of the CPP.”
Cummings also expressed the CPP’s dissatisfaction over the forms and the manner in which the electoral body conducted the country’s first biometric voter registration. He accused the Commission of conducting a “compressed” process.
Meanwhile, the NEC meeting, which Cummings is expected to attend today, is part of an “ongoing dialogue” initiated by the Commission to promote inclusive, credible, peaceful, and non-violent elections, as enshrined in the Farmington River Declaration recently signed by registered political parties and independent aspirants.
The Commission added that the engagement will “… allow the NEC to interact with the aspirants and solicit their commitment to a peaceful and non-violent electoral process.”
Meanwhile, the Commission has released the final voter registration data per electoral district and voting precincts on its website (necliberia.org).
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