The Budget Standoff: Can Speaker Koffa Regain Control of the House?

No one can do for Speaker Koffa what he cannot do for himself. Legislative politics is a numbers game, and Speaker Koffa’s quest to retain the Speakership cannot come at the expense of the entire government. The government cannot afford a shutdown.

Some people are asking why the presidency initially addressed the Speaker directly but subsequently chose to communicate with the Chief Clerk. There is a commonsense logic to this. Although the President wrote to the Speaker the first time, this was before the Speaker had appealed to the Supreme Court for a prohibition against the majority members of the House of Representatives. Now that the Supreme Court has denied the Speaker’s request, the Court’s decision lends legitimacy to the actions of the majority bloc. This ruling has created a space for critical reflection in which the presidency must act prudently and tread cautiously. In doing so, the most neutral individual for the Minister of State to address was the Chief Clerk, who stands between the Speaker’s faction and the “Majority Bloc.” In this legislative tug-of-war, the Chief Clerk will ultimately align with whichever side holds the numbers.

Since politics is a numbers game, no one anywhere can ignore the majority. It should be remembered that the majority even holds the power to impeach the President. Thus, Speaker Koffa cannot expect the Presidency to table matters of state, such as presenting the Draft National Budget, until he has resolved the current impasse in his favor. He has had over a month to reconcile with his fellow lawmakers, but with each passing day, his waning influence makes it increasingly clear that he lacks the capacity to do so.

For the sake of argument, if the Draft National Budget were submitted to the Legislature through Speaker Koffa by the Presidency, what would actually change? Nothing. Speaker Koffa still lacks the numbers to convene and conduct business because he cannot secure a quorum. The draft budget would likely be shelved to gather dust in his office. More importantly, the draft budget should not serve as an instrument for political bargaining by lawmakers, nor should it be used to draw the presidency into the politics of a separate branch of government.

The Executive cannot prioritize loyalty to Speaker Fonati Koffa over critical issues of state. Speaker Koffa himself must recognize that Realpolitik is often a brutal game, and he must temper his ambitions with the understanding that no individual’s agenda is so important that the state should be held up for it.

The Liberian people have had enough. If Speaker Koffa cannot muster a majority, the Executive will have to submit the draft national budget to the so-called Majority Bloc. The work of the people must proceed, with or without Koffa as Speaker.

Once again, the Executive cannot do for Speaker Koffa what he cannot do for himself. This is real politics.