By: Emmanuel Toe
The Political Leader of the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), Representative Musa Bility, has announced a major initiative to petition the Liberian National Legislature for a series of constitutional amendments, focusing on reducing the terms of elected officials and increasing the retirement age for Supreme Court Justices.
Representative Bility unveiled the plans while meeting with members of the Liberian community in Minnesota over the weekend.
The proposed changes, he argued, are necessary to accelerate national development and give Liberian citizens more frequent opportunities to hold their elected representatives accountable.
Under the Representative’s proposal:
House of Representatives: Terms would be cut from the current six years to four years.
Senate: Terms would be reduced from nine years to six years.
President: The presidential term would be shortened from six years to four years.
Crucially, Mr. Bility also intends to push for an increase in the mandatory retirement age for Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia, which currently stands at 70 years.
He is advocating for the age limit to be raised to at least 72 years.
The rationale for this judicial change, according to Representative Bility, is to reduce [the] influence of the executive continuous appointment of justices on the Supreme Court bench, thereby bolstering the independence and continuity of the judicial branch.
”There is a need to make practical and meaningful changes so as to accelerate development and for the Liberian people to make changes if the wrong person is elected,” Mr. Bility stated, underscoring the political and democratic impetus behind the proposed amendments.
The plan to petition the National Legislature signals the CMC’s intent to spark a national dialogue on electoral and judicial reform.
If introduced, the proposals would require rigorous debate and approval by both the House and Senate before moving through the constitutional amendment process.
Meanwhile, it can be recalled that the immediate past government headed by former President George Weah initiated similar proposal through a national referendum but was defeated by the people through voting process which many said was done based on claimed selfish political reasons other than the general good of the nation and its people.
