State security chiefs and the National Elections Commission (NEC) held an electoral management meeting with the 20 presidential candidates, or their proxies, yesterday at the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Monrovia.
Though details of the meeting were not known to the media up to press time last night, but sources told this paper that Justice Minister, Frank Musa Dean, chaired the meeting, alongside Defence Minister, Daniel Zainkahn.
In attendance also was NEC’s Chairperson, Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, Police and Fire Service Directors, Patrick Sudue and Alexander “Alex” Dixon, as well as the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) Commissioner, Robert Budy, among other paramilitary security agency chiefs.
The sources said both the state security chiefs and the National Elections Commission (NEC) admonished political parties and that of the independent camps, plus their followers or supporters, to observe the sanity of the peace and stability of the country during the 68 days of campaigning.
It said candidates, whether presidential or legislative, should canvass for votes via “issue-based politics” and not hate language (speech) and insults, or the display or exhibition of pictures that could cause provocation.
The meeting came hot on the heels of the first day of the start of campaigning, which was launched by the governing party, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), but marred by a provocative, symbolic toting of a coffin, claiming to be the remains of the main opposition standard-bearer, Joseph Nyumah Boakai.
Such a flagrantly provocative and disrespectful display on the first day was widely condemned by both local and international community, as well as the party itself.
