NEC hearing office grills Liberia's ruling party chairman

12 Novembre 2017

Monrovia, Liberia, November  12 (Infosplusgabon) -  The Hearing Office of the National Elections Commission (NEC)  of Liberia on Saturday resumed hearing into the case of the Liberty Party (LP) allegation of fraud and irregularities with the ruling Unity Party (UP) chairman testifying.

The LP had filed an allegation of widespread irregularities and fraud in the 10 October election with the NEC, but the commission proceeded to announce results and declare a run-off without addressing the protest.

Then LP filed a writ of prohibition at the Supreme Court, which in its ruling halted the run-off and asked the NEC to investigate and rule in the case of the LP.

The ruling party later requested, and was granted by NEC, the right to “intervene” in the LP case, thus joining the claims of irregularities and fraud.

UP chairman Wilmot Paye’s testimony dwelled mainly on instances of irregularities and fraud at polling places in defence of the claims of the two parties.

The Hearing Officer had on Friday denied a Motion for Compulsory Joinder filed by the UP.

Lawyer Muana Ville, in his ruling Friday, said the motion was rejected because the 18 other participating parties had not filed any issue before the NEC requiring a joinder.

He said the request of the ruling UP “lacks magnitude and is only intended to delay the electoral process.”

A motion for compulsory joinder is the joining of two or more legal issues to allow multiple issues to be heard in one hearing or trial and is done when the issues or parties involved overlap sufficiently to make the process more efficient or fair.

It helps courts avoid hearing the same facts multiple times or seeing the same parties return to court separately for each of their legal disputes.

But hearing officer Ville noted that no other party had shown interest in the issues raised by principal petitioner, Liberty Party, and observed that a number of parties have even endorsed one of the two parties pitted in the run-off.

Former presidential candidate and Senator Varney Sherman, and immediate past justice minister Benedict Sannoh, are among top notch lawyers representing the LP and UP.

The UP, upon receipt of the ruling of the Hearing Officer, filed an appeal to the Board of Commissioners, the first instance of recourse, before proceeding to the Supreme Court.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/PLM/ GABON 2017

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