By Comfort M. Johnson
MONROVIA, July 30 (LINA) – The Supreme Court of Liberia on Monday denied the Victory for Change (VOC) political party’s petition of July 13 asking the Court to determine the constitutionality of the Joint Resolution of the National Legislature setting July 31 as the date for the conduct of the Bong and Montserrado Counties By-Elections.
According to Chief Justice Francis Korkpor, by virtue of Article 2 of the Liberian Constitution, which vests exclusively in the Supreme Court the authority to hear and determine issues of the constitutionality of an Act of the Legislature and opinions of the Supreme Court on issues, the court does have jurisdiction to rule in this particular instance on the constitutionality of the challenged joint resolution LEG-0003/2018 of the legislature.
He further stated that the person purporting to represent the petitioner, Cllrs. Emmanuel A. Turley and A. Nyenpa Saytue, failed to demonstrate by any instrument that they were authorized to have vested authority to commence the instant action.
According to the Supreme Court, the political party does not meet the standard to commence and sustain the case, adding that the Supreme Court maintains that the persons are not properly placed to represent the petitioner and as such there is no legal basis to maintain the petition.
He said: « While we agree that the Legislature and the National Elections Commission (NEC) were without the authority to change the date of the elections set by the Constitution, however, given the totality of the circumstances involved in this case, and the consequences of deprivation of the rights of the peoples of Bong and Montserrado counties to representation, we mandate that the National Elections Commission should proceed forthwith with the conduct of the elections in the two counties to fill the senatorial vacancies in those constituencies.”
The Clerk of the Court was accordingly ordered to send a mandate to the National Elections Commission informing it to proceed with elections on July 31 in line with the Joint Legislative Resolution.
LINA CMJ/TSS/PTK
