MONROVIA, Montserrado – The senatorial by-elections meant to fill the vacancies created in the Senate as the result of George Weah’s and Jewel Howard-Taylor’s ascendency to the presidency and vice presidency, respectively, has suffered a serious setback.
The National Elections Commission recently announced that it received a notification from the Senate on February 13 about the two vacancies.
Following the notification from the Senate, NEC submitted a budget of US$3.9 million meant for the by-elections in Montserrado and Bong.
But Henry Flomo, NEC’s director of communications, told ELBC Radio that the commission has postponed the candidates’ nomination for the by-elections in the two counties.
NEC’s director of communications, Henry B. Flomo. Photo: Zeze Ballah
“The decision of the commission is based on the lack of government’s budgetary support,†Flomo said.
According to him, since the budget and timetable were submitted to the government for the elections, NEC has not yet received a commitment about the funding.
Flomo said the constitution gives the commission 90 days to conduct the elections, upon notification from the Senate.
He said a failure for the government to address the funding issues could “lead to breach in the constitution.â€
Featured photo by Zeze Ballah
