Barely seven weeks to the presidential and parliamentary elections, Liberians voted in a referendum to change or retain their Constitution on Tuesday, August 23 amidst protests from the Opposition.
About 1.8 million people voted in the referendum. Among the key changes proposed in the amended Constitution are; the postponement of the second round presidential elections in November. Currently, the first round of presidential and legislative elections is scheduled for October 11; the majority threshold for a winner in the first round of elections; the duration a presidential candidate must have resided in the country prior to elections with a proposal to change it from the current ten years to less than five years and increasing the retirement age for judges of the Supreme Court from the current 70 years to 75 years.
Several opposition parties had called for a boycott of the referendum or a NO vote. They argued that it was inappropriate to hold a referendum in the middle of election campaigns which commenced in June and are supposed to end on October 9. They argue that the outcome of the referendum could exclude some candidates from the race. Already 16 candidates have declared their interest in the presidency.
The main contentious clause is the one relating to the residency requirement. Anti-referendum activists fear that reduction to five years could pave the way for a proliferation of candidates thus making easier for the re-election of the incumbent president Ellen Johnson.
However, according to Alfred Balarfee, a professor of political science at the University of Liberia, even if the current period of 10 years remains, nothing stops any candidate from contesting because the particular clause is ambiguous and does not specify if the ten years that is referred to, is cumulative or consecutive.
President Ellen Johnson urged Liberians to vote in large numbers and to vote YES in the referendum. She warned against political violence which could lead the country back into conflict, eight years after the end of the Civil War.
To be adopted, the amendments proposed in the referendum must be approved by two-thirds of the voters. The final results are scheduled to be released on September 7, 2011.