Following the dethronement of the True Whig Party (TWP) long-running regime on April 12, 1980, Liberia’s First Branch of government (Legislature) became to be occupied by indigenous who persistently advocated for representation, oversight and lawmaking in the prime interest of the governed. There has also come along a shift in legislative politics with the removal of top leaderships- speaker and pro-temp becoming prevalent and disruptive thereby signaling money driven mission. After the collapse of the Congo hegemony, the Unity Party has become the first political party to make a comeback through the ballot box, having been defeated by the Coalition for Democratic Change after twelfth years of administration under Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Associated with the political doctrine of ‘take all top positions’ in government, including the leadership positions at the National Legislature, under the current Unity Party-led government, the Joseph Nyuma Boakai stewardship appears to be embarrassed with the split amongst members of the 55th House of Representatives over speakership.
However, indigenous lawmakers of present day political dispensation seem to be driving the path of representation, lawmaking and oversight negatively far beyond what their predecessors ( the Americo-Liberians) did in the past.
It is recalled that in 2006 and 2016, analysts said ‘ the sake of peace’ coerced then House Speakers- Edwin Snowe and Alex Tyler to resign thereby satisfying the Executive’s ‘legislative agenda’. Critics have also claimed that what is unfolding in the Lower House now is no different from that of the past.
Unlike the time span of past speakers’ removal tussles, the removal of embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa seems to expose and ridicule those public trust has been reposed in to serve the masses, simply because the embattled speaker, a seasoned lawyer, wants the rule of law to be respected while is opponents clinch on legislative politics.
In the wake of the ongoing speakership debacle, those putting pressure on Koffa to resign are reportedly misappropriating funds against the expectation of some of their supporters. There are claims that the Richard Nagbe Koon-led House Leadership has expended eight million United States which their critics are insisting should be accounted for. However, only audit can confirm that the accused have misappropriated eight million United States Dollars.
At the same time, suspended representatives are also crying foul for alleged misuse of their salaries and benefits by the Majority Bloc but they (affected lawmakers0 remain unbending that whatever the Koon leadership has ‘siphoned’ or diverted from them will be restituted.
Moreover, what appears to complicate the process of resolution to the House’s impasse is most likely the reshuffle by Majority Bloc Speaker Koon of various committees in the Lower House to satisfy his members in running the affairs of the august body.
Above all, the Majority Bloc seems to be recalcitrant to bow to the Supreme Court ruling, judging by the fact that the Bloc presided over the current fiscal budget hearing and made allocations for government institutions, as well as allocated their shares of the budget, while its committees’ members tend to resist changing their leadership.