IPNews-Monrovia: The Full Bench of the Supreme Court of Liberia on Thursday, October 29, 2020, dashed the hope of the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP).

Delivering the ruling on behalf of the High Court, Associate Justice Jamesetta Howard-Wolokollie quashed the alternative writ of Mandamus prayed for by CPP and denied the peremptory writ.

Justice Wolokollie said the delays in the conduct of the by-elections to fill vacancies in the Legislature has negatively impacted and undermined the exercise of the right of the people to representation the governance of the country.

She furthered that they  strictly adhere to timelines set by the Constitution and other laws for the conduct of by-elections.

Associate Justice Wolokollie explained that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in all cases whether emanating from courts of record, courts of none record, administrative agencies, autonomous agencies or any other authority both as to law and fact.

“The Legislature shall make no law nor create any expectations as would deprive the Supreme Court of any of the powers granted to it under the Constitution,” she said.

According to her, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine mandamus proceedings against the Legislature and Executive Branches of Government.

She emphasized that the Writ of Mandamus will not lie against NEC as NEC set the by-elections time within 90 days after receiving notification from the presiding officer of the House of Representatives as mandated by the Constitution.

Justice Howard-Wolokollie added that the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, had already notified NEC of the vacancies in the House of Representatives occasioned by the deaths of the two honorables J. Nagbe Sloh and Munah Pelham Youngblood before the filing the petition for Mandamus.

Furthering  she said there was no duty left to be performed since the extraordinary Writ of Mandamus was not intended to correct the late performance of an official duty.

It can be recalled that authorities of the four collaborating political parties, which include the Unity Party (UP), Liberty Party (LP), Alternative National Congress (ANC), and All Liberian Party (ALP), filed before the Supreme Court an alternative writ of mandamus, praying the court to compel the National Elections Commission (NEC), the House of Representative and the Executive Branch of government to conduct the Representative by-elections in both Montserrado and Sinoe Counties on or before October 28, 2020.

The lawsuit comes just days after Chambers Justice of the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sie-A- Nyene Yuoh, refused to issue a writ of mandamus against the conduct of the voter roll update.

The vacancies in both District #2 in Sinoe County, and District#9 in Montserrado County, were created by the deaths of Representatives J. Nagbe Sloh on June 30, 2020, and Munah Pelham Youngblood on July 8, 2020.

In their petition, the CPP argues that the Legislature as though gravely unmindful of its constitutional duty and as a demonstration of further disregard for the fundamental law of the country, notified the NEC of the death of Sloh on September 10, 2020, seventy -two (72) days after his death, while in the case of Rep. Youngblood was also September 10, sixty-four (64) days after her death. “In both cases the notifications were issued well beyond the time frame mandated by the Constitution,” said the CPP.

They further argued that building on the illegal and unconstitutional foundation laid by the Legislature in not notifying the NEC within 30 days of the vacancies created in the Legislature by the deaths of Sloh and Youngblood, “It is profoundly regrettable to bring to the attention of the court that the NEC has declared that it will conduct the by- election for these two vacancies on December 8, 2020,” the lawsuit indicates.

They also argued that NEC’s unilateral announcement without the involvement of the political parties to conduct the by-elections to fill the two vacancies on December 8 “is a deliberate, calculated, wanton and vicious assault on the letter and spirit of the 1986 Constitution and with callous disregard for its consequences.”

They also argued that “It shows how gravely unmindful the NEC has become of its constitutional duty and the fundamental laws of the country.”

The suit also argued that the Constitution has expressly stipulated a time period and specifically designated the total time period of 120 days within which by-election shall be conducted.

“The pronouncement made by the NEC to the effect that it will conduct the by-elections to fill the existing vacancies in the House of Representatives on December 8 is an act completely without the pale of the law,” the lawsuit said.

Therefore, the lawsuit argued, the “Issuance of the writ of mandamus is instructing the NEC to perform its constitutional and statutory duty by conducting the pending by-elections in strict conformity with the constitutionally mandated timelines.”