LIBERIA – The outgoing Leadership of the Press Union of Liberia, (PUL) is fussing with the Media Stakeholder Committee which it set up to mediate in the controversial elections of the union.
The outgoing Leadership of the Union says it regards the blame-shifting of the committee on Mr. Coffey as unhealthy and counterproductive to the spirit of the Union.
The PUL’s dither is in response to the dispute resolution committee which accused Charles Coffey and the leadership of PUL of undermining the works of the committee he constituted to mediate.
The committee said it was pulling out of the mediation because Charles Coffey and the leadership were not keeping it updated, etc.
In response to the claim, Charles Coffey dismissed such an assertion, terming it a complete misrepresentation of the facts associated with the case.
The outgoing Leadership of the Union wonders how the President can undercut the activities of the committee at the same time not providing a term of reference for it.
In s statement released by the outgoing leadership, it said the Committee was charged to bring the parties in the elections disputes and the congress committee to a settlement but only interviewed lawyers of both parties.
The statement says the committee also did not communicate with the Union or the Justice-in-Chambers on the need for an extension of one week to allow the mediation to continue.
President Coffey asserted that Madam Weade Korbaj-Boley, who chairs the committee, more than once phoned him to give edicts on the state of the mediation.
Mr. Coffey mentioned that the failure of the committee to achieve the desired peace mediation prompted the seizure of the matter by the Justice in Chambers.
The outgoing leadership of the Union insinuated that the press statement signed by Mrs. Korvah-Boley as a conspiracy intended to pin down the Union’s genuine efforts aimed at bringing the election impasse to an end.
The outgoing leadership said the Media Stakeholders Committee held meetings in the one week stipulated by Associate Justice Yousif Kaba to reconcile the Union but allegedly failed to bring both parties together.
