The National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL) has called on the country’s government to postpone the national referendum slated to take place alongside the midterm senatorial elections on 08 December.
Civil society organisations, political parties and interest groups have been calling on the government to postpone the referendum over the perceived lack of public awareness and public information.
National Chairperson of NCSCL, Loretta Pope-Kai, said in a statement that unless the people fully understand the process, voter apathy will be recorded.
She noted that citizens’ preparedness to participate in the referendum was too crucial to be overlooked.
‘Anything short of this would simply be a superimposition meant to impose the thoughts and will of the ruling class on a helpless population…And so, please listen to your people’, Pope-Kai said.
NCSCL, which welcomed the Supreme Court of Liberia’s annulment of the referendum, argued that the government of Liberia’s official gazette on the referendum was inconsistent with Article 92 of the country’s constitution.
The court, in a unanimous judgment, ruled in favour of the opposition, Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), which filed a writ of prohibition against the proceedings.
Despite the court ruling, the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced the printing of the needed ballot papers for the referendum.
Source: Front Page Africa
Photo source: NCSCL
