The chairman of Liberty Party Counselor Fonati Koffa, has warned of a possible civil unrest if the National Elections Commission (NEC) manages the Democracy Sustainability Fund.

The act that created the Democracy Sustainability Fund says NEC will manage the fund but Cllr. Koffa says it should not be the responsibility of NEC to do so because that will give rise to social unrest, especially if NEC decrees that specific parties are in violation of the Fund regulations and that their accounts be suspended or frozen.

Delivering a paper at the 14th Policy Dialogue convened by the Governance Commission last week at its 9th Street, Sinkor Office, Cllr. Koffa warned that the Bill has the propensity of benefitting the big parties, which is detrimental to the smaller political parties.

The counselor who is also Managing Partner of the International Law Group said the situation will make smaller parties below the 5% or 10% threshold to cross carpet, thereby leading to much fewer parties than currently existing. On the role of the General Auditing Commission in auditing recipients of the Fund, Cllr. Koffa suggested that many political parties will cry foul if auditing responsibilities were placed in the hands of the Auditing Commission, proposing that international auditing agencies audit the Fund.

Rather than "throwing money at political parties," Cllr Koffa suggested that there should be a match-funding requirement for political parties that will benefit from the Fund. Although he is in agreement with the overall idea of the Democracy Sustainability Bill, Cllr Koffa expressed concerned that the Bill might not serve the interest of the Liberian people. He said what was presented to the President for her approval was not a valid Bill because there was no indication that it had the concurrence of both Houses of the National Legislature. Cllr Koffa stated that the Bill was ambiguous about the yardstick to be used for determining which party would be eligible for funding. He said it was not clear whether the yardstick for determining the eligibility for funding would be the 2011 elections or a subsequent round of elections. The Counselor wondered whether "throwing money at political parties would solve the problem". He said for the fund to be able to realize its aims and objectives it must fund political party activities that ensure their engagement with their constituency, along with the vehicles and workers linked to such activities. Political parties that are in receipt of Democracy Sustainability Fund should not be allowed to boycott elections. If they do they must forfeit their funding, he added.

For his part, Senator Nagbe of Sinoe County who is also Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee put up a robust and unreserved defense of the Bill, outlining its whys and hows. He said the history of Liberia since 1847 necessitated the enactment of a legislation to strengthen democracy in Liberia. He said the 1847 Constitution of Liberia was responsible for the exclusion of majority of Liberians from the body politic of the country and the subsequent creation of a one-party state.

However, he noted that in the 1950's voices demanding greater inclusion in the political process grew louder, coming to a climax during the 14 April 1979 Rice Riots and the 12 April 1980 violent overthrow of the Government. The Constitution Review Commission that was set up in the aftermath of the 12 April 1980 Coup outlawed any tendency to create a one-party state, according to Senator Nagbe.

He said the initial allotment of funding to political parties will be $2 million, with $1 million allocated for the Presidential Elections and distributed among political parties who meet the 10% threshold. That amount will be distributed to political parties based on their share of the valid votes; whereas for the Legislative and General Elections, political parties, coalitions and alliances that reach the 5% threshold of the valid votes cast will share $1 million based on their share of the votes, but political parties, coalitions and alliances that benefit from the threshold 10% for Presidential Elections will not also benefit from the 5% threshold for Legislative Elections. Cllr Nagbe stated that there will be clearly written financial reporting requirements for political parties benefiting from money allocated through the Democracy Sustainability Act and the money will not be spent for any purpose that is incompatible with a political party's functioning in a modern democracy.

He said the National Election Commission may suspend or terminate the disbursement of funds to political parties, coalitions or alliances, if they have been found, after forensic investigation, to have misused, mismanaged or misappropriated the funds, of course giving them the right of appeal. The Bill is currently awaiting the signature of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf before becoming Law. She can however send the Bill back to the Legislature to make the necessary adjustment that will make it watertight or simply veto it. Even so, the President's veto can be overturned by two-thirds of the National Legislature. Policy Dialogues are a key activity of the Governance Commission, a statutory institution set up by the National Legislature in 2007 to make public policy recommendations and implementation strategies that promote good governance in Liberia.