The Justice in Chamber has placed a temporarily halt on President George Weah’s Executive Order #117 which calls on presidential appointees desiring to contest October 10 2023 to resign before April 7, 2023.
Yamie Gbeisay’s decision to suspend the President’s order is pending the Ministry of Justice’s response to the Writ of Prohibition filed by one of the newest opposition political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL).
The party requested the high court to prevent the government from enforcing the President’s order, claiming that it violates the 2014 Code of Conduct (CoC) and its 2022 amended version. The writ argued that the presidential decision is against the meaning of the Code of Conduct Act since the law is being implemented only a few months before the October 10 elections instead of the required one-year notice.
Meanwhile, the significance of the Ministry’s response in the matter at bar is to justify why the opposition party’s request should not be approved.
The President’s Executive Order which was issued on March 14 mandates that all government officials desirous of contesting the October 10, elections resign before April 7.
According to the Executive Mansion, the President’s action was in accordance with Section 5.2 of the amended 2014 Code of Conduct. Section 5.2 of the amended law reduces the resignation period for officials from a maximum of three years to just one year.
However, Weah has faced significant criticism for implementing the law within a significantly short period.
The President however acknowledged the one-year resignation clause but pointed out that with only seven months left until the elections, the amended Act cannot prevent public officials from participating in the October 10 election.
Nevertheless, the President has asserted that the Executive Order was necessary to establish a fair political playing field, citing his compelling interest. Consequently, presidential appointees are now mandated to resign six months before the country’s elections.”
The EFFL then argued that the President’s justification violates the law, as the order should have been issued in 2022 to ensure that the clause’s objective, which aims to prevent presidential appointees from using state resources to contest elections, was achieved.
The party writ, therefore, seeks to have the President’s Executive Order declared void, as it never existed and argues that the phrase ‘who desires to contest for any elected office’ is directly contradictory to the Executive Order.
The writ states, ‘We request Your Honor to declare Executive Order 117 illegal and with no force or legal effect.” The petitioner however contends that laws are not retroactive and therefore not applicable to anyone appointed by the President of Liberia at this point since the publishing date.
