President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has addressing the nation at the start of campaign for the October 2017 polls. The Liberian leader said it will be a test to our maturity as political leaders and as people who work to make the right choice
According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberia leader made the statement in an address to the nation on Monday, July 31, 2017 at her Foreign Ministry Office in Monrovia. She said in keeping with the timetable of the National Elections Commission political campaigning commenced yesterday and applauded the Liberian people who demonstrated enthusiasm in the elections by the large number that registered to vote and by the high level of involvement and participation in the campaign kickoff.
President Sirleaf said the 2017 elections will signal our irreversible course on the path of peace and democracy. She noted that this is the first general elections organized by us, conducted by us, and therefore all ours.
She cautioned political actors that as the Campaign develops, let us strive to focus our discussion on the bigger issues and challenges of our society. She challenged political leader to be clear on the kind of country we want for ourselves and posterity and said we must seek to inform and enlighten the electorate, treat each other with respect and clarify choices, while sustaining our electoral environmental free of violence and conflicts.
The Liberian leader said it is within this spirit that on Sunday afternoon, July 30, 2017, she had the pleasure of exchanging views with Presidential Candidates and other political leaders – representing twenty of the twenty six registered political parties. She thanked all of them for their active participation and their commitment to the Farmington River Declaration that the majority of them signed on June 4, 2017 in the presence of ECOWAS Heads of State and representatives of the international community.
“We hold them, as political leaders, who seek the highest office of our land to act with dignity and responsibility that benefits the office, to live up to their commitments to ensure violent free elections, to seek mediation when differences pose a threat to the campaign process,” she intimated.
She said she was particularly pleased that the party leaders expressed their confidence in the NEC for the conduct of its functions so far and urged the National Elections Commission to continue to do all within its powers to prepare adequately and operate efficiently and effectively in this campaign phase of the electoral process.
She used the Sunday meeting to remind political player about the need to establish the Hot Line as provided for in the Farmington River Declaration in order to facilitate rapid communication and facilitate prompt preventive action on the part of presidential candidates, the leadership of NEC, the National Security forces and the Mediation Committee.
She concluded by assuring all Liberians that the government under her leadership will do everything to ensure a peaceful environment within which political campaign will be conducted. She further assured that the administration will mobilize the resources of the state to ensure that all phases of the electoral process, including the campaign phase, are successful and that the Liberian people can once again elect the leaders of their choice. “I am convinced that after elections, we will regroup as a proud and determined nation to proceed with the development of our country,” she noted.
