The Political Leader of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) former President George M. Weah has described as unconstitutional hijack of democracy, the plot of the Majority Bloc lawmakers at the House of Representatives to oust embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa.
It can be recalled that during last Thursday’s session of the House of Representatives, the Majority Bloc, shortly after acquiring a resolution signed by at least 50 lawmakers calling for the removal of Speaker Koffa, went ahead to declare the speakership position vacant, suggesting that Speaker Koffa had been ousted from his post to now serve the legislature as a common representative.
Without wasting any time, the body moved further to nominate Montserrado County District #11 Representative Richard Koon to contest for the position on a white ballot, meeting the consensus of all members. The lawmaker was immediately elected and sworn in as the Speaker of the House of Representatives even though embattled Speaker Koffa had made no statement of resignation and the process to have him removed was not fully followed.
The action of the Majority Bloc led Koffa to file a writ of mandamus at the Supreme Court of Liberia, where it issued a stay order on the process instructing the body to return to status quo ante.
The Court on Friday, November 22, 2024, ordered its Marshall to notify the Minister of Justice/Attorney General to appear and file returns on the side of the law before the FULL BENCH of the Honorable Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia, Temple of Justice, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at the hour of 9:00 a.m., as to whether or not the Petitioners’ Petition should be granted.
The Supreme Court further commanded the marshal to notify the referenced members of the House of Representatives to also file their returns. “You are further commanded to instruct the Minister of Justice and the referenced Members of the House of Representatives to file their OFFICIAL RETURNS to this Writ in the Office of the Clerk of this Honorable Court on or before the said 26th day of November A. D. 2024; and have the members of the House of Representatives to return to status quo ante and stay all further proceedings or actions pending the determination of the matter,” the court said.
The high court also instructed that the marshal reads the original of the writ when being served and leave a copy with the parties, making known to the court as to when and how the writ was served by fling his OFFICIAL RETURNS on the back of the original copy in the Office of the Clerk of Court before the said 26″ day of November A. D. 2024.
But speaking at the Forky Klon Jlaleh Family Followership on Sunday, November 24, 2024, Weah said the Majority Bloc members are trying to remove the speaker J. Fonati Koffa unconstitutionally and the Executive is watching and saying nothing about this illegal act.
Weah said during President Joseph N. Boakai’s inauguration, he refused to answer the part of the oath of office requiring one to swear to protect and defend the Constitution of Liberia.
“We as a party will not allow the democracy at the House of Representative to be hijacked after Liberia has broken the record of two democracies,” Weah said.
According to him, every well-meaning Liberian, from lawyers to civil society, needs to make sure that the laws of Liberia are protected.
“Liberia has a record of upholding the rule of laws and protecting democracy, and we should not allow that image to leave the country with the unconstitutional removal of the speaker at the House,” Weah said.
However, the former Liberia leader expressed faith within the Judiciary not to sit and allow the democracy at the House of Representatives to be hijacked again.
