{"id":45000,"date":"2023-10-06T16:53:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T16:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission"},"modified":"2023-10-06T17:36:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:36:35","slug":"liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission","title":{"rendered":"Liberia: Waritay Replies National Elections Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>Former Information Minister Lamini Waritay has described as \u201cunnecessarily alarmist and hysterical\u201d the press statement issued by the National Elections Commission (NEC) and published by FrontPageAfrica<\/b>, \u201cfalsely and maliciously accusing” him of \u201cwanting to \u201cundermine the electoral process and expose the Commission to disrepute and endanger members of its staff, while at the same time threatening the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Waritay labeled the Davidetta Browne-led Commission\u2019s press statement as \u201can overexcited and knee-jerk reaction, and an exercise in willful misrepresentation and scapegoating, all designed to cover the inadequacies of a commission that is laboring under a cloud of suspicion in regard to its impartiality.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that if the Commission had applied some level of English language comprehension to what he refers to as his \u201cbenign comments on the need for the Commission to do the \u2018right thing\u2019 by fairly and transparently conducting the October elections,\u201d the Board would have possibly thought twice before embarking on what he describes as \u201ca campaign of calumny\u201d against him with the \u201csole purpose of presenting him in a bad light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Waritay explained that his reference about rigging was \u201cconditional\u201d, and not \u201ccategorical\u201d or \u201cdefinitive\u201d. He furthered that \u201call what I endeavored to put across to the NEC and its technical staff is that with all the rumors of rigging, and with partisans of the incumbent openly boasting of rigging the elections, any such plans or ambitions to rig or manipulate the pending elections will only be possible if<\/b> NEC acquiesces to it, as it is the only body which has the means to do so if it so wishes. I never suggested for a moment that the NEC will rig the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far from wanting to embark on what the NEC statement refers to as \u201cdangerous attempt to undermine the electoral process and expose the Commission to disrepute and endanger members of its staff\u201d and threatening the peace,\u201d Waritay said \u201cTo the contrary, my statement on the NEC was an admonition meant to alert the NEC to the consequential nature of the October elections and the imperative of the Commission, as an impartial referee, not to knuckle under any exogenous or endogenous attempts to rig the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a necessary piece of advice, Waritay explained, in no way translates into accusing the NEC of wanting to rig the elections. \u201cBy the way,\u201d the former Press Union president asked, \u201cwhat is more dangerous: an exhortation to do things right and avoid problems, or the propensity to create a situation or an environment that has the potential to unravel society?\u201d<\/p>\n

Waritay made it clear that his observations about the need for \u201ctruly credible, fair and transparent elections are in line with my longstanding activism aimed at ensuring that multi-party democracy, of which free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive elections are key elements, is entrenched in the country, and that when voters go the polls at any time, no one or no entity should take away their fundamental democratic right to use their votes to determine who should govern them.\u201d He added that, his \u201clife-long advocacy has been pivoted around the struggle to democratize Liberian society, expand the theater of free expression, and foster peace and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

He declared that \u201conly those who are recently emerging on the national political stage, or have been hiding under a rock all these years, and so have not been following my political and media activities over the decades, would elect to refer to me as someone who \u201cundermines the electoral process and exposes the Commission to disrepute and endangers members of its staff, while at the same time threatening the peace.\u201d Waritay then wondered whether all of the commissioners who signed off on that \u201ccry-baby release\u201d are aware that he \u201cwas part of the Post-Cotonou Liberian Ad-Hoc Electoral Commission of Liberia\u2019 in 1994 that laid the foundational pillars for the very NEC they are now serving on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Waritay said while he respects every individual commissioner at the NEC, \u201ctheir acerbic reaction to my statement compels me to challenge them to show how much contribution any one of them may have made in fostering peace, democratic participation, and protection of civil liberties in the country compared to what I have done in these areas over a stretch of three decades at considerable risk to myself.\u201d He added that \u201cWithout wishing to sound boastful, none of those casting me as a flamethrower has enough activist background to lecture me on democracy, or on free but responsible expression, or the conduct of credible elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like everyone else, Waritay opined, \u201cI have my political sympathies. But I am not a card-carrying member of any political party. I have always been a professional in my discipline and will remain so. My statement was issued in good faith, not on the basis of partisanship or a disposition to grandstand or to purposefully bring anybody into disrepute, but to ensure that at least for once we start doing things the right way in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The communications strategist and consultant observed that \u201cThe feverish, groundless and hyperactive content of NEC\u2019s release on what is otherwise an innocuous statement can be likened to a proverb in Chinua Achebe\u2019s Things Fall Apart<\/b>, that says, \u201cAn old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb\u201d. In this regard, argued Mr. Waritay, if NEC is so confident in its capacity, capabilities, transparency, and honesty to conduct free, fair, and credible elections, why should the commission get so bent out of shape when someone as much as mentions the possibility of vote rigging even without directly accusing the commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn any case,\u201d Waritay asked, \u201care the NEC commissioners not aware that elections do not necessarily have to be rigged on elections day, and that undertaking shambolic registration of voters, slow-walking certain aspects of the process, like missing key schedules in the process, including the timely availability of the Final Registration Role (FFR), the outright absence of voter education, among many related aspects of the process, constitute some form of a priori<\/b> rigging?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Waritay asked, \u201chow come this very belligerent NEC has not even sneezed over, let alone take issue with those who are predicting that \u2018There will be blood in the streets of Monrovia\u201d after the NEC has conducted the October elections\u201d?<\/p>\n

The former minister then concluded by asserting that \u201cIf public officials cannot stand the heat, they should either do the right thing, or leave the kitchen, instead of looking for scapegoats or yelling fire where there is none.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. Former Information Minister Lamini Waritay has described as \u201cunnecessarily alarmist and hysterical\u201d the press statement issued by the National Elections Commission (NEC) and published by FrontPageAfrica, \u201cfalsely and maliciously accusing” him of \u201cwanting to \u201cundermine the electoral process and expose the Commission to disrepute and endanger members of its staff, while at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":44998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-45000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberia: Waritay Replies National Elections Commission - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Information Minister Lamini Waritay has described as \u201cunnecessarily alarmist and hysterical\u201d the press statement ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberia: Waritay Replies National Elections Commission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Information Minister Lamini Waritay has described as \u201cunnecessarily alarmist and hysterical\u201d the press statement ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-06T16:53:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-06T17:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2023\/10\/sm_1696601087.957917.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liberia: Waritay Replies National Elections Commission\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-06T16:53:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-06T17:36:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\"},\"wordCount\":1106,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2023\/10\/sm_1696601087.957917.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Liberia\",\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-waritay-replies-national-elections-commission\",\"name\":\"Liberia: Waritay Replies National Elections Commission - 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