Monrovia — The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) and the Government of Ireland through the office of the Development Cooperation has entered into partnership under the project: "Deeping and Consolidating Liberia's Democracy".
The ECC said the project, which runs for one year - from May 2023-May 2024, is valued at US$100,000 and compliments a current election project of the ECC that is funded by USAID.
In a statement, the ECC said the implementation of the project is tied around four distinct yet interrelated pillars: Citizens' participation, electoral integrity and electoral security.
Under the first pillar, the focus of the intervention will be the provision of civic and voter education to first time voters to enable them make informed decisions, the second pillar deals with promoting electoral integrity through the deployment of 300 observers on election day.
Pillar three focuses on building citizens' trust in the police through the conduct of police-community dialogues due to police that is under-resourced in terms of personnel, logistics, and finance for operations, while the fourth pillar highlights consultations on electoral reforms.
The ECC is Liberia's largest domestic election observation network with diverse competencies, experiences and expertise in democracy, elections and governance established since 2010. It contributes to transparent, accountable, credible and sustainable democratic processes in Liberia.
The "Deeping and Consolidating Liberia's Democracy" project comes at a time Liberia is poised to hold its crucial Presidential and Legislative Elections this year. The October 10 polls, will mark Liberia's fourth consecutive general elections since the end of the civil war in 2003.
So, what is new?
The cost of the elections will be largely provided by the Liberian Government and the management of the election will be done by the NEC without substantial external logistical support from the international community.
In addition, electoral security will be the full responsibility of internal security agencies (LNP and LDEA). The ECC said this is crucial because the security agencies must be perceived as neutral and demonstrating non-partisan posture in dealing with all political actors including women.
In addition, the ECC pointed out the transition from manual to Biometric Voter registration system. "We have consistently said that if properly managed, the BVR can improve the quality of the country's democracy because credible elections are built on a credible voter roll," the ECC said in a statement through its Chairperson.
It noted that during an election year, the civic space tends to be occupied by political actors and in their quest for votes, their utterances in some instances are inflammatory and in other cases they border on hate speeches.
This reinforces the polarization and division in the society and this increases the risk of electoral violence, the ECC noted, adding, the security apparatus, given the conditions mentioned above may not be in the position to respond in the event where there is spontaneous violence across the country.
"We must face the reality that our population is very young and with limited livelihood opportunities they are vulnerable to be used by political spoilers to instigate violence during this period through the formation and financing of youth militant groups with resources which in many cases have no source."
Frowning on electoral violence, the group said in many instances is a calculated attempt by individuals or political parties to instill fear and intimidation in their opponents with the sole purpose of influencing the outcome of the election.
And when this happens, it undermines the doctrine and principle of fair competition that is required for the conduct of any election, the group added.
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The ECC then commend public officials who have resigned their positions to contest for elected offices to be active during the campaign period.
The ECC has observed key electoral processes since 2011 including major by-elections and the 2020 Special Senatorial Elections and Referendum. Reports from the ECC observations have been relied on by elector actors including political parties to describe the credibility and integrity of these elections.
It comprises seven-member institutions and networks including: Center for Democratic Governance (CDG); Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP); Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP), Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD); Naymote Partners for Democratic Development; West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP), and the Women's NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL). The ECC works in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Irish Aid.
