PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Liberia: Catholic bishops call for violence free polls in Liberia
Monrovia, Liberia, October 9 (PANA) - The Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) has urged Liberians and the National Elections Commission (NEC) to ensure that the nation holds peaceful, transparent and violence free elections.
In a statement issued Monday, CABICOL called on the NEC to remain professional and irreproachable as it carries out their duties during the electioneering period.
The Catholic prelates’ call comes as 2.1 million registered voters go to the polls Tuesday to elect a president and 73 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.
The bishops want the media to abstain from sensationalism and preaching divisive politics, and also appealed to the youths to refrain from violence in all forms and manner.
The call by the CABICOL is a follow-up to a pastoral letter on elections issued on June 4 to the public.
“In few hours, we shall be going to the polls to cast ballots and choose our leaders in an election which has been termed as historic due to the fact that this will be the first time in the last 73 years for a sitting president to successfully and peacefully turn over power to another elected president,” the bishops said.
The statement was signed by Bishop. Anthony Borwah Gbarnga diocese and President of CABICOL, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of Monrovia, and Bishop Andrew Karnley of Cape Palmas.
The statement noted that with 20 candidates vying for the presidency and 986 others for the 73 seats in the House of Representatives, of which 15.9% percent are females, these are indicators of Liberia’s growing democracy.
CABICOL, however, added with caution that only one person will be elected as president and only 73 persons as representatives, noting that political parties and all contestants should respect the choice of the Liberian people.
The bishops joined Liberians in thanking God for the threshold of the milestone achievement in the country and also thanked members of the international community for contributing and ensuring that peace prevailed in Liberia for the past twelve years.
-0- PANA PTK/AR 9Oct2017
In a statement issued Monday, CABICOL called on the NEC to remain professional and irreproachable as it carries out their duties during the electioneering period.
The Catholic prelates’ call comes as 2.1 million registered voters go to the polls Tuesday to elect a president and 73 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.
The bishops want the media to abstain from sensationalism and preaching divisive politics, and also appealed to the youths to refrain from violence in all forms and manner.
The call by the CABICOL is a follow-up to a pastoral letter on elections issued on June 4 to the public.
“In few hours, we shall be going to the polls to cast ballots and choose our leaders in an election which has been termed as historic due to the fact that this will be the first time in the last 73 years for a sitting president to successfully and peacefully turn over power to another elected president,” the bishops said.
The statement was signed by Bishop. Anthony Borwah Gbarnga diocese and President of CABICOL, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of Monrovia, and Bishop Andrew Karnley of Cape Palmas.
The statement noted that with 20 candidates vying for the presidency and 986 others for the 73 seats in the House of Representatives, of which 15.9% percent are females, these are indicators of Liberia’s growing democracy.
CABICOL, however, added with caution that only one person will be elected as president and only 73 persons as representatives, noting that political parties and all contestants should respect the choice of the Liberian people.
The bishops joined Liberians in thanking God for the threshold of the milestone achievement in the country and also thanked members of the international community for contributing and ensuring that peace prevailed in Liberia for the past twelve years.
-0- PANA PTK/AR 9Oct2017
