The National Executive Committee of the National Patriotic Party (NPP) has suspended with immediate effect its National Chairperson, James Biney.
NPP said, its decision was triggered by acts that are incompatible with his status as National Chairperson, including his failure to honor the instruction of 2/3 majority of the NEC by not signing the Coalition Framework Document authorized by the Executive Committee.
The National Patriotic Party (NPP), is a constituent party of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) comprising the Liberia People’s Democratic Party (LPDP) of former House Speaker, Alex Tyler and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of President George M. Weah.
The decision, according to a NPP release, was reached on March 4, 2023 at a called National Executive Committee meeting in which 2/3 membership of the National Executive Committee signed said resolution.
Furthermore, the NPP says the refusal of Senator Biney to sign the Coalition Framework Document after being mandated by 2/3 majority members to the NEC regarding the Party, is in violation of section 8.7 (a) & (e) of the 2004 constitution.
Meanwhile, the NPP has at the same time ordered Chairman Biney to submit himself to the Grievance and Ethics Committee in three working days to show cause for his acts of insubordination and disrespect to the National Executive Committee, and added that failure to do so, he shall be considered automatically expelled.
In that light, the National Executive Committee further disclosed that it has mandated George S. Mulbah, Vice Chairperson for Administration to steer the affairs of the NPP, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The communication suspending Chairperson Biney was signed by Gus Knowlden, the Assistant Secretary for Press and Propaganda but the suspension is being greeted with stiff resistance as other officials cited violation and vowed to respond to officially respond.
According to them, the party was suspending Taylor and Mulbah for ‘convening an illegal and unconstitutional gathering,’noting that the action by supporters of the two suspended officials constitutes a breach of Article 5 of the party’s constitution.
Article 5, according to the Biney faction, provides that all executive committee meetings and national conventions are called and presided over by the national chairman.The faction also stated that Section 6 of the article provides that all citations for meeting be duly authorized by the Secretary General of the party.
“None of these constitutional requirements were obtained to qualify the meeting as being an NEC meeting,” the Biney faction said in its release.