The National Elections Commission (NEC) is poised to announce the names of qualified candidates for the Presidency, Senatorial and Representative this week ahead of the official start of the campaign on Saturday, August 5.
This is in compliance with the 2023 Election Regulations Section 14.0 which states: “The Commission shall determine, publish and announce the date when official campaign shall open and close, and that no political party, alliance, coalition or candidate shall commence campaign until the campaign has been officially declared open by the Commission.”
It continued: “No political party, alliance, coalition, or candidate shall continue to campaign beyond the closing date of the campaign period, and the official campaign period shall end at midnight, twenty-four(24) hours before the Election Day.”
With this, NEC will announce the official listing of those aspirants of political parties and independent camps, who have been qualified as candidates to contest in the general elections this week, before the start of official campaigning this Saturday, August 5.
Earlier, NEC on Wednesday, July 19, announced and published the provisional Presidential, Senatorial and Representative aspirant listing of those who may have completed their registration on or before Friday, July 14, thereby certificating them for the completion of the exercise.
Of the provisional listing, there were 20 presidential aspirants, of which 18 are of the political parties, and 2 independent camps, with countless senatorial and representative aspirants as well.
The Commission stated then that it was still scrutinizing, verifying and or awaiting the outcome of investigation(s) into some aspirants’ submission, perhaps relating to the requirements, including domicile or residence for the past 10 years, as stipulated in the national constitution.
The Commission shall announced the final listing on or before Saturday, August 5 while August 14-19 will be a period for the replacement of lost or damaged voter registration cards, which shall be followed by the publication of voting precincts on Monday, September 18, nationwide.
Already, some aspirants, who perhaps did not meet the requirements during scrutinizing, have begun announcing their withdrawal from the exercise, whether with political parties or as independent aspirants.
Among those who pulled out already are the African Democratic Movement of Liberia (ADMIL) and its United States-based Presidential aspirant, George Parkinson Gonpu, who once served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Development Planning during the tenure of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Others were Mengistu Eddie Wolokollie and Nathaniel Barnes (presidential), likewise some Representative aspirants to include Charles Coffey, former president of the Press Union who is on record to have resigned due to his quest to contest in his county of origin; and many more who are yet to come public.
It is expected that the Commission will provide more details and update on those applicants might have been rejected in the process, whether as a presidential, senatorial, or representative candidates.
