By: Nat Bayjay,nbayjay2010@gmail.com (231-77-402737)

Following months of legislative debate, the electoral threshold bill of Liberia has been finally passed at 40,000 persons per constituency with the provision that no single county has less than two representatives. The passage of the new threshold now means Liberia will have an additional 21 new representatives in the 53rd National Legislature expected in 2012, following the 2011 general and presidential elections. This will mean a total 85 representatives for the House of Representatives alone instead of its current number of 64. Coupled with the constant 30 senators (two from each of the 15 counties), Liberia’s next National Legislature is expected to be a 115—member legislature.

In accordance with the constitutional mandate, the National Legislature is under obligation to set a new threshold after the conduct of a national population census after every decade. The Liberian Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) in March of 2008 conducted Liberia’s first national population and housing census after about two decades due to the civil war which shows that the tiny West African state has a population of 3.4 million inhabitants.

Rep. Alomiza Enoch of Montserrado County who represents the heavily-populated slum community of West Point located in Monrovia’s commercial district of Waterside described the passage of the electoral threshold as a relief.

The tough-talking female Montserrado County representative told FrontPageAfrica, “It’s very strenuous for some of us whose constituencies are overpopulated. I mean I have a constituency of over 100,000 inhabitants. How far can I get with this large number?”

The new threshold will now further sub-divide not just the West Point Community but other congested electoral constituencies such as the populous slum community of Clara Town and other constituencies outside the Capital that are faced with similar situations.

She continued, “This is a real relief for some of us. It’s a victory for Montserrado County”.

Montserrado County, the most populous county of over 1.3 million inhabitants is one of several counties whose representation will definitely increase. The County currently has 14 representatives, followed by Nimba County’s seven representatives and five for Bong County. The likes of Grand Bassa, Lofa and Margibi Counties current four representatives each are expected to increase too while Grand Kru and Rivercess Counties will remain at two representatives each.

Tuesday’s debate of the threshold bill, though passed last week Thursday, was necessitated by Rep. David Saydee’s filed motion of reconsideration on the provision of Section 11 of the amended version of the threshold bill as concurred by the Liberian Senate on July 11, 2009. Rep. Saydee, in his reconsideration motion, appealed to his legislative colleagues to have the threshold set at 48,000 with the provision that no county loses its current seat in the House of Representatives.

The Maryland County lawmaker’s point of contention was based on the need for Liberians to have more adequate social services instead of additional representatives. “Our people need services that will alleviate their sufferings, not representatives that will overcrowd this place (Chambers)”, he said.

He added, “Our people’s problem is not the number of representatives but what is major is restoring basic social services and infrastructure to this country”.

The House of Representatives is currently loaded with 64 seats as drawn from all electoral constituencies of the country’s 15 political sub-divisions otherwise referred to as counties.

Rep. Saydee warned against the country facing tedious financial constraints as the new threshold means approximately US$4.4 million will be used annually for the first branch of government. Mathematically, this amounts to about 34 per cent of the country’s current fiscal budget.

“We don’t need to attach additional financial burden on the National Budget. With my recommendations, Government will save money”, the southeastern representative appealed to a group of colleagues who seemed to have already made up their minds. But his appeal only fell in the legislative dust bin.

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