Monrovia — The National Youth Congress of the Unity Party is calling on the party Chairman Rev. Luther Tarpeh to reject any attempt from the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) to cast a white ballot for the positions of National Youth Chairman and National Vice Chairman for Administration in the absence of reconvening the National Youth Convention.
The Unity Party July 2022 National Convention held in Gbarnga, Bong County was headed by Representative Clarence Massaquoi. The convention for the National Youth was deferred and since then there has been no sign to go to the polls and elect officials who will run the affairs of the Youth Congress.
Reading the statement, Evans Boima Tuku said Article XVI Section 5 of the Unity Party constitution states that the national officers of the Youth Congress and the Women Congress shall be elected by the youths and females in attendance at a National Convention of the Unity Party in separate plenary of such youth and female delegates.
According to him, casting of any ballot can only be done legally through the reconvening of a convention of the youth congress that was deferred.
Tuku furthers: "We call on Chairman Luther Tarpeh to resist the temptation of being pressured to organize any illegitimate process of casting a white ballot in the absence of reconvening the National Youth Convention. Doing so will leave the Leadership of the 15 Counties and 73 Districts Youth structures across the country to declare the beneficiary of such spoil as a Persona Non-Grata, and no member of our leadership in all the counties and districts across Liberia will submit to his illegal authority."
He added: "We want to state incisively that we reject the unlawful, unreasonable and unjustifiable proposal advanced by the compromised Clarence Massaquoi Elections Committee to cast a "White Ballot" for Mr. Togar Melvin Cephas and Mr. Cyrus L. Greene, Jr. to dubiously ascend to the positions of National Youth Chairman and National Vice Chairman for Administration respectively of the Evergreen National Youth Congress of the Unity Party."
Tuku says partisans in the National Coordinating Committee of the Unity Party have received a letter from the ad hoc Clarence's Elections Committee requesting the Convention committee not to reopen the deferred vacant positions of the youth congress.
He added: "This recommendation was never accepted. As such; was not included in the resolution emanating from the convention. How then can anyone with a straight face say that they want to cast a white ballot for a lone candidate at a secret location for fear of competition."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Tuku calls for the resolution to be resolved due to protests filed against two contestants of the National Youth Congress for the positions of National Vice Chairman for Youth Affairs and Deputy Vice Chairman for Youth Affairs for Administration.
He added: "A major reason for calling for the reopening of the process is contingent on the fact that we can't have our National Chairman, Rev. Dr. J. Luther Tarpeh hailing from Rivercess County and also having the National Chairman of the Youth Congress hailing from the same county."
Tuku furthers: "Article 78 E of the Liberian Constitution prohibits that. According to Article 78 E: The Constitution and rules of the political party shall conform to the provisions of this constitution, provide for the democratic elections of officers and/or governing body at least once every six years, and ensure the election of officers form as many of the regions and ethic groupings in the country as possible."
"It was in fulfillment of this provision of our organic law; which supersedes all other laws in the Republic of Liberia, that led Cllr. Varney Sherman who was elected as National Chairman and hailed from Grand Cape Mount County to request the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Unity Party to ask Hon. Henry Fahnbulleh, who was also elected as National Secretary General at the same 2010 Convention to relinquish and resign his position; which he obliged and the process was reopened which brought in Former Chairman Wilmot J.M. Paye as National Secretary General, and became one of the best National Secretary General in the current history of the Unity Party."
