Liberia: House Majority Bloc Rejects ECOWAS Mediation Team’s Proposal to Return to Main Chamber
Monrovia – The Majority Bloc of the 55th House of Representatives has rejected a key recommendation by the ECOWAS mediation team aimed at resolving the ongoing stalemate within the Liberian Legislature.
By Yaway Jaivey
The Majority Bloc, chaired by Hon. Samuel G. Kogar (District #5, Nimba County), announced their acceptance of five of the six recommendations. However, they rejected the return to the main chamber, citing the Supreme Court’s recognition of the Joint Chamber’s legitimacy under Article 66 of the Liberian Constitution.
The House has been engulfed in a leadership dispute after 43 members abandoned the main chamber and began holding separate sessions in the joint chamber of the Legislature.
This group, presided over by Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah, is calling for the removal of Speaker Fonati Koffa. The Speaker, however, has termed their gathering as illegal.
Following several failed attempts to settle the impasse, the ECOWAS mediation team, led by the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, arrived in Liberia and held several meetings with the both sides. At the end of the final meeting held with the joint parties to the conflict, the mediation team drew up a six count resolution.
The resolution called for the official complaint against the Speaker to be dispatched to the office of the honorable Speaker with immediate effect by the Majority Members; that the honorable Speaker shall respond to the complaint in writing recusing himself from the presiding over the House during the period of the investigation, that Member of the 55th legislature, shall resume Plenary sittings in the main chambers of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Speaker shall preside over the Plenary during the period of the Investigation into the charges against the Speaker and the duration of the investigation shall not exceed two weeks
It also called for the Security and safety of the members of the House to be assured by both parties in order to maintain decorum.
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