Liberia's parliament speaker steps down amid prolonged legislative dispute

MONROVIA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Speaker of Liberia's House of Representatives Fonati Koffa on Monday tendered his resignation amid a prolonged impasse in the parliament for months.

There had been a division in the Liberian parliament for nearly seven months, culminating in the formation of parallel leaderships as the legislative arm of government was split between the Rule of Law Caucus, to which Koffa belonged, and the Majority Bloc, led by Montserrado legislator Richard Koon as its speaker.

The disagreement and division in the parliament led to intense legal and political wrangling over the speakership. Both groups had held separate legislative sessions after the Majority Bloc declared Koffa ousted and appointed Koon to replace him. A Supreme Court ruling on April 23 upheld Koffa's election and stated that any attempt to unseat him was illegal.

Koffa told reporters in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, that he resigned earlier on Monday as the parliament speaker, citing an alleged refusal of the executive arm of government to honor the ruling by the country's Supreme Court. According to local media, the Liberian government recently declared its support for the Majority Bloc.

"I cannot negotiate the law. If I resign, that is the legal process -- a vacancy is created, and a new speaker must be elected," Koffa told reporters in Monrovia.

"When the president said he would revert to his original posture -- to work with the Majority Bloc -- we had to reassess our participation," he added. Enditem