MONROVIA: Apparently caught unawares of the consequences of conflicting campaign schedule which led to the clashes between the members and supporters of both the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the opposition Unity Party (UP), the National Elections Commission(NEC) has ordered all parties and candidates that have not submitted their campaign schedule to the Commission to do so immediately without delay so as to ensure that the October 10, 2023 will be without violence.
In a press release issued by NEC and signed by Ignatius Wisseh, Director of Public Affairs over the weekend, the commission while reminding the public that the campaign period runs from August 5 to October 8, 2023, said “the 2023 campaign guidelines (submission of campaign schedule) require a party/candidate to notify the commission in writing no later than 7 days before the commencement of campaign activities of its schedule of campaign stating the date, time and venue. Some of the parties/candidates have not submitted their schedules”
The release said the commission mandated that all parties/ candidates who have not submitted their schedules are requested to do so on or before Thursday, August 17, 2023, and indicated that all presidential candidates should submit the schedules to the Chairperson at the National Headquarters on 9th Street, Monrovia while representative and senatorial candidates should submit theirs at the magisterial offices in the counties
“Furthermore, the commission urges all candidates within these elections to ensure full compliance with the 2023 Farmington River Declaration signed on 4th April, 2023 and 21 July, 2023 by registered political parties and independent candidates.
“For the love of our country, we urge all candidates to ensure that Liberia is free from all forms of election violence during this campaign period.
It can be recalled that last week, supporters of both CDC and UP clashed over conflicting campaign schedules though the day was booked by the CDC to campaign in District #9 and #10. As the result of the incident, UP which had earlier scheduled a press conference to announce its campaign team on that day, postponed the event for today, Monday, August 14, 2023.