MONROVIA – With the ongoing Capitol Hill leadership stalemate between House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and the opposing Majority Bloc that is orchestrating his removal outside of established legal frameworks, former Vice Presidential Candidate of the disbanded Collaborating Political Parties, Counsellor Charlyn Brumskine, is calling on the citizens to speak out against what she sees as a creeping political “virus” not only threatening the National Legislature, but could also destabilize the other branches of government, and dismantle the democratic gains of the country.
Speaking passionately over the weekend in a special social media podcast on the current leadership crisis within the House of Representatives, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine said there is a willful attempt by anti-democratic forces within the House of Representatives to dismantle the country’s nascent democracy.
“We are seeing a systemic dismantling of our democracy. We must begin as Liberians to be serious about this thing we call democracy,” she said. “Democracy in its purest form is a government of the people, a representation of the people; because not every one of the 5 million people that are in Liberia can run the government. So, the citizens elect individuals who are supposed to speak on behalf of their geographic constituents.”
She said those Liberians elected are supposed to speak “our voices, our interests, our positions, for they were not elected to represent their own interests. They are elected to represent the interests of the people”.
“The thing I find confusing is that those of us that are on ground, who are talking to people here, who are listening to social media, who are listening to the radio, there is a disconnect between what the people claim to want and what’s happening at the Capitol Building,” she continued. “So, for me, in my little understanding of democracy, we are not exercising democracy. We are exercising power and autonomy by a few against the will of the many.”
Rallying the Citizens to Take Action Against “Virus”
The renowned lawyer, advocate and humanitarian did not mince her words, especially regarding the conspicuous silence of those who are affected by the crisis on Capitol Hill. She noted that the inaction of the citizens could undermine democracy, a situation which they would regret in the future because they failed to hold their representatives accountable for their actions.
“I am not here to take sides; I am here to talk to you about Liberia,” the Liberian lawyer said further. “When we see things like this happening, we wonder how we got here. The reason Liberia is where we are at this point in our democracy is because of intentional actions like the ones that are happening now.”
She observed that the intent is not only an affirmative action but a neglect, a failure to do something, a failure to call elected representatives to account for not reflecting the views of the people.
“We are being intentional about seeing the dismantling of our democracy,” she added. “We see it happening at Capitol Hill. What will happen in six months? What will happen in two years? Will this spillover from Capitol Hill to the Temple of Justice? The virus that we see happening now, will it hit the Judiciary? Will it also hit the Executive Mansion; God forbid? Nothing is in isolation. Nothing in Liberia, or in any democratic process or in any society, is in a vacuum.”
She emphasized: “When we begin to see intentional actions to flout, destroy, disregard or diminish the rule of law, if we don’t take the antiviral medication as a people and stand up against what’s happening, the virus will spread faster than any Ebola, any Covid that we had ever experienced.
“What is happening? There is a method to remove someone. There is a rule of law; there is due process that is guaranteed to each of us. If we see one person being denied due process, I don’t care how powerful he is, those of us that don’t have any political power, how can due process be guaranteed to us? Don’t ask in two years, ‘but how did we get here’? We got here because of what happened today. The lawmakers who are flouting the rule of law, who are denying their colleague due process, it is not right. The constituents who are part of the electorate need to speak out against this.”
“I am trying not to be biased,” Cllr Brumskine continued. “I am trying not to attack anyone, I am speaking to a system, a system that determines each of daily bread tomorrow, that determines how our children will be schooled, how our mothers and fathers will be provided healthcare, how our market women will sell in the market. Do not think that what’s happening up Capitol Hill will not affect the rest of us. It’s intentional, and we will all suffer the consequences if the right thing is not done.”
Cllr. Brumskine’s call for the citizens to hold their lawmakers accountable for the anti-democratic situation that is erupting on Capitol Hill comes in the wake of the election by the Majority Bloc of Montserrado County District # 11 lawmaker Richard Koon as the new Speaker.
Following Koon’s election as the new House Speaker last week Thursday, the Majority Bloc set into motion the process to strip Representative Koffa of all legislature privileges pertaining to his speaker position.
Meanwhile, Speaker Fonati Koffa and members of the pro-Koffa bloc have petitioned the Honorable Supreme Court to reverse several unconstitutional actions taken by the Majority Bloc led by Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah and Representative Samuel G. Kogar.
Some of the actions which the Koffa bloc prayed the Supreme Court to reverse include what they termed as the convening of an illegal plenary without the Speaker who is constitutionally acknowledged as “presiding officer” of the House of Representatives; using the illegal plenary to illegally suspend three members of the legislature without according them due process; illegally restructuring and reconstituting Statutory Committees of the House of Representatives; and unconstitutionally seizing and taking possession of the 2025 Draft National Budget by the Deputy Speaker.