Elections Coordinating Committee

Search for Common Ground Office

16^th Street Sinkor, Cheeseman Avenue

Monrovia, Liberia

October 17, 2011                                                 

The Elections Coordinating Committee (ECC) strongly condemns the throwing of petrol bomb in the compound of Love FM Radio Station during the early hours of October 17, 2011 and news reports of an attack by armed men on the home of journalist Smith Toby of Truth FM. These violent actions by unknown individuals during this time of our nation’s history will not be tolerated because they have the propensity to ignite a cycle of violence which could undermine the peace and security of the country.  

The ECC calls on the Liberian National Police (LNP) to professionally investigate these matters and come up with speedy findings as well as to take corrective actions within the confines of the law to make public the findings of these investigations and previous attacks in order to prevent further attacks and increase  public trust in the police. The ECC also urges supporters of all political parties and citizens to remain calm and allow the police to do its work.

The ECC is not sure if these actions are politically motivated but calls on all political parties to publicly and promptly condemn these acts of violence during the electoral process as they occur because they are undemocratic and send a negative message to the international community that the country is not ready for peace. The ECC equally calls on the media to put on its conflict sensitive lens when reporting on these incidents in order to avoid implicating political parties while the investigation is ongoing.      

At the same time, the ECC wishes to congratulate the National Elections Commission (ECC) on the manner in which the elections were administered but at the same time calls on NEC to speedily investigate all election related complaints and make the findings known to the public.  By the same token, the ECC calls on aggrieved political parties to channel their grievances through the procedures outlined in the elections law. Finally, the ECC also wishes to congratulate the Liberian people for the peaceful manner in which they responded to the pronouncement of the results by NEC. We urge them to demonstrate similar behavior during the second round of voting. 

The ECC is a coalition of civil society organizations monitoring the electoral process and is in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

‘’ Promoting credible elections to increase public confidence in democracy’’