Three months before the presidential and legislative elections, a pan-African electoral organization, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy, expressed concern about the use of insulting, demeaning, and antagonistic language in public by high level state and political party leaders.
Grant Masterson, the country director for the institute, expressed disappointment that political parties have vowed to uphold the spirit of the Farmington Declaration by using the freedom of expression to sow seeds of distrust, hatred, and fear.
The institution, according to Mr. Masterson, is aware of reports concerning political parties recruiting adolescents and followers in response to public pronouncements and encourages all political actors to be cautious of any unintended effects of their activities.
Throughout the electoral process, Mr. Masterson urged the leaders of all political parties and their supporters, the media, civil society organizations, traditional elders, and all other interested parties to continue to foster a climate of tolerance and national unity. He also urged party supporters to abstain from political violence, threats, and intimidation.
As part of their obligations under the Farmington River Declaration, the political leaders were also urged by the EISA Country Director to publicly condemn all acts of intimidation, threats, and bad behavior.
The institute urged all political parties to uphold democratic principles by firmly rejecting all forms of violence and refraining from any actions or language that might encourage their supporters to engage in violent or illegal behavior in order to create a favorable pre-election environment.
Mr. Masterson continued, “On the exhibition exercises of the provisional registration roll, EISA has been heartened to witness the ongoing and positive engagement of Liberian citizens in the process of registering to vote, as well as the openness and transparency of the National Elections Commission in providing specific, disaggregated figures regarding the preliminary voter’s roll.”
He claimed that they will continue to witness the 2023 election process while abiding by the standards for election observation that are universally recognized. He continued by saying that the institute is closely monitoring every stage of the election and that long-term monitors have been present since the end of April 2023 to evaluate the procedure in light of regional and global standards as well as domestic law.
Mr. Masterson concluded that EISA has a history of support for democracy in Liberia and is proud to undertake its International Election Observation Mission to help the electoral process.
The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa is a non-profit organization founded in South Africa in 1996, according to Antonetta Hamandisha, the EISA’s election expert. She claimed that although it has its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, it was first founded to help democratic transition with an emphasis on assisting in free and fair elections in South Africa following the end of apartheid.
Early work by the institute included conflict monitoring, mediating, and mitigation methods around elections, she said, adding that “the early experiences have been beneficial in allowing EISA to continue this work in many other post conflicts and transitional spaces.” The organization presently has other geographical footprints in nine African nations, while it previously had field offices in 15 African nations.
EISA focuses on assisting regional and subregional stakeholders to promote inclusive, peaceful, and credible elections, according to Madam Hamandisha.
We are in Liberia as a pan-African organization to support the capacities of both state and nonstate actors as well as to monitor the legislative and presidential elections in 2023.
Reported by: Augustine Octavius
Contact: +231777463963
Email: augustineoctavius@gmail.com
