-Where Does the Lot for Speaker Fall
Monrovia-Liberia: Today, the lower Chamber of the National Legislature, the House of Representatives, goes to the poll to elect a new Speaker after the Embattled Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa and Majority Bloc Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon resigned and drop claims to the office of the Speaker of the National Legislature; writes Bill K. Jarkloh
Legislative sources told the GNN that the Minority is fielding Nimba County Representative Musa Hassan Bility and Montserrado County Representative Richard N. Koon. It was said that both men encamped with their followers on Monday night, May 12, to secure a win.
Already, Richard Koon has more members of the House while Musa Bility who was initially known to have 28 members in his Rule of Law bloc camped with 30 members, meaning that his lot is added to by one vote holding everything constant. Bility, a Liberian oil dealer and businessman is noted for his business lobbying power which he may use to advantage during the process. Besides, he managed to successfully keep his Minority or Rule of Law Caucus together since the inception of the brawl for the removal of Speaker Koffa in defense of the embattled Speaker.
On the other hand, Richard Koon, a University of Liberia professor, has been keeping his Majority Bloc together ensuring that they squeeze Speaker Koffa out from the Speakership. Koon has successfully run the House during the time of the impasse, passed the National Budget and other legislative instruments.
Koon as the Speaker for the Majority successfully sanctioned members of the Minority Bloc with suspension and seizure of their financial benefits for not coming under his gavel. Rep. Koon became very influential and has commended the support of the members of the Majority Bloc, and stood out prominently in the governance process while also commanding the cooperation of the Executive Branch and the Upper House of Legislature, the Senate.
With the influences both candidates have commanded, the plenary of the Lower House is bound to produce fireworks for the speakership poised to determine who the next Speaker will be. Already in the Communities, people have started to glue to their receivers, social media and televisions, anxious to know where the lot for speakership falls. The question that therefore persists is: Who will be the next speaker – The Majority Bloc candidate Koon or the Minority Candidate Bility?