Liberia’s leader President George Weah is set to open a referendum on Tuesday that will look at shortening presidential terms and lifting a ban on dual nationality.
President Weah wants to cut the length of terms for presidents and lower-house lawmakers from six to five years and senators from nine to seven.
He told the house that saying ‘Yes’ to the referendum will be in their best interest.
Some members of the opposition say that Weah’s proposed referendum aims to extend his stay in office because the first six years would then be under a different constitutional arrangement.
Reducing term limits is a relative novelty for the region, where ageing presidents have followed a pattern of clinging to office using constitutional changes.
In Guinea, for example, 82-year-old President Alpha Conde won a controversial third term in October after pushing through a new constitution that allowed him to bypass a two-term limit.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, 78, was elected the same month, for an equally contentious third term, after having revised the country’s constitution.
Many Liberian voters are still undecided about their position on the referendum.
“You know when it comes to the referendum, I don’t have an understanding of it yet. So for the referendum, I won’t really vote on it,” said Amelia Johnson.
The second part of the referendum is whether to scrap a ban on dual nationality poses a divisive issue in the poor West African country. Some hope it could lead to an economic boom but others say wealthy diaspora members could wield too much influence.
“Well really I feel that the referendum is not timely and I feel that this should not have been conducted during this time around because there was not much publicity carry out on the referendum,” said Thomas G.
