What appears to be an attempt by certain new breed of proposed political parties to fraudulently beat measures put into place by the National Elections Commission (NEC) is being thwarted by the Commission.

In an exclusive with The Perspective on April 4th, the Chairman of the National Elections Commission, Cllr. Frances Johnson-Morris, revealed that on several occasions her commission unearthed duplication of names in the membership listings submitted to the Commission by certain new breed of political parties.

As provided in the approved Elections Law of Liberia, each of the political parties requesting certification from NEC is required to provide 500 names of membership from at least 12 of the 15 political sub-divisions of Liberia. This is one of the registration requirements for political parties.

According to Cllr. Morris, the listings which the Commission had problem with have been rejected and sent back to the parties involved, while other parties whose emblems look similar to those of other political parties were also told to change same before re-submission to the commission.

The NEC chairman, though she is withholding the names of the proposed political parties involved in the fraudulent act, has expressed her displeasure over the inability of the public to thoroughly securitize the membership listings being published in the print media, noting that the public must come forth to challenge any discrepancies in the listings.

“The public should come up to question the membership listings of these proposed political parties being printed in the newspapers”, Cllr. Morris stressed, adding that other measures have been put into place to curtail mal-practices during the exercise.

Currently, about fifty Liberians are said to be eying the nation’s highest office - the presidency, while there are eighteen registered political parties and over eighteen proposed political parties.