MONROVIA: Barring any last minute unforeseen situation, Liberia is yet to record another historic feat when the Liberian Senate convenes next week Monday to elect its President Pro Tempore, where Senator Nyonblee Karngar Lawrence, Senior Senator of Grand Bassa County is set to be elected unopposed from her colleagues and becoming the first female to occupy the exalted seat in the country.
According to reliable sources in the upper chamber of the National Legislature, the election for the position was billed to have been a stiff contest when it was initially announced that the incumbent, Senator Albert Chie was not interested on seeking re-election but the former Speaker of the 53rd National legislature and current Senator of Margibi County, Emmanuel J. Nuquay was tipped by the contest with support from the Coalition for Democratic Change(CDC).
On the other hand, Senator Lawrence was clearly seen as the choice of the Unity Party Alliance having been promised the position as a trade off after she was not picked as running mate to the President elect, Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakai during the 2023 general elections.
The tide was said to have changed when Senator Nuquay reportedly withdrew from the race apparently after his name appeared on the designation list of the Department of State of the United States government. Though not publicly announced, his close associates, including his colleagues who were pushing his electoral bid, told The Analyst that Senator Nuquay will not be on the ballot when the senate holds election on Monday next week.
In a surprised move, it was reported a little while ago that as a fallback position, the outgoing government and the hierarchy of the CDC in their bid to control both houses of the national legislature reportedly approached Senator Milton Gbehzongar Findley to replace Nuquay and challenge Senator Lawrence for the position he once occupied before he was defeated by Lawrence in 2014.
Reports however reaching The Analyst have it that though he had accepted to contest the position, but after weighing all the variables to his disposal, including support base and timing, Senator Findley finally stepped down his ambition, a situation that will now make Senator Lawrence unopposed for the position.
As a strong voice in the then opposition bloc starting from the formative days of the first Collaborating Political Parties(CPP), Senator Lawrence was a force to reckon with where as a leader of the Liberty Party, though factionalized then, she was able to mobilize her support base to give the CDC a run for their money during the just concluded 2023 general and led the Unity Party alliance to state power.
Affectionately referred to variously as “rescue mother, Gbosaydeh, Iron lady, amazon of female emancipation, Senator Lawrence since her election in the Liberia senate, she has played significant roles in galvanizing support for gender equity and formed strategic partnership with politicians of like minds.
She took over the leadership of LP upon the death of its founder and first standard bearer the late Charles Walker Brumskine and guided the party through some of the most difficult periods in the party’s history. For a very long time, while being a key member of the opposition bloc, she was tipped to have emerged as the running mate of now President Elect Boakai until the last days when Senator Koung who was the political leader of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction pipped to the position.
She was first elected as a Senator of Grand Bassa County through a bye election after the late John Whitfield died while serving his tenure. She was elected to her own term in 2014 and got reelected in 2014 and 2020.
She is currently serving as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on rule and order. For a long time until 2020, she was the only female senator at the national legislature and later on joined by Senator Botoe kanneh of Gbarpolu County in 2020.
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