The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) have announced that they will hold a convention in May 2023 to elect their standard bearer for the upcoming 2023 Presidential and General Elections. In a statement released on April 18, 2023, the CPP declared that the National Convention will take place from May 13-14, 2023, in Ganta City, Nimba County.
According to the statement, the convention will bring together 500 delegates from the 73 electoral districts, 15 counties, and executive committees of the constituent parties. The event is also expected to be attended by officials from the National Election Commission, other opposition political parties, civil society groups, the diplomatic corps, and members of the press.
During the Convention, delegates will elect the CPP's standard bearer and nominate legislative candidates for the 2023 elections. The Convention Committee is comprised of Cllr. Aloysius Toe (Chair), Ms. Rugie Barry (Co-Chair), Mr. Martin Kollah (Secretary), Rep. Larry Younquoi (Member), Mrs. Saydah Taylor (Member), and Mr. James Yougie (Member).
Currently, the CPP is made up of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) and the Liberty Party (LP). The Party Political Leader, Sen. Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, and its chairman, Musa Bility, have been in conflict regarding the legitimacy of the Party.
Regarding the LP crisis, last week, the Supreme Court of Liberia granted the application by Musa Bility, the disputed Chairman of the opposition Liberty Party, who had requested the nation's highest court to issue a Writ of Certiorari against the National Elections Commission (NEC) for the manner and form in which the electoral body was handling the dispute between Bility and others versus Nyonblee Karnga and Emmanuel Azango relating to the contest over the amended constitution of the Liberty Party.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
After a long period of legal review, the Supreme Court granted the request and issued a Writ of Certiorari, mandating the NEC to resume jurisdiction over the matter and proceed in keeping with the law. Both the Bility and Nyonblee camps have issued separate statements regarding the mandate of the Supreme Court, but many now think the mandate of the Supreme Court has shifted the coins in favor of one of the parties.
However, a Certiorari is a remedial process in which one of the parties to an ongoing case petitions the Supreme Court to correct the errors of a Judge or an administrative agency presiding over a matter.
The legal province of Certiorari does not bring the matter under contest to finality. The full bench of the Supreme Court passed on two cardinal issues, including whether or not the submission of the amended Liberty Party (LP) constitution to NEC was done properly.
The Supreme Court affirmed that the submission of the LP constitution by the LP National Chairman and Secretary General (SG) was done properly, and whether or not the NEC has the authority to validate/invalidate the LP constitution, to which the Court held that the authority to declare any document valid/invalid or to declare rights is strictly within the purview of the judiciary and must be adjudicated by a competent Court of jurisdiction.
