Time IS Running Out – Liberia news The New Dawn Liberia, premier resource for latest news

MONROVIA, June 1, 2026 – The European Union Election Follow-Up Mission has underscored the urgency of Liberia implementing key electoral reforms before the 2029 polls, noting that its recommendations are shaping national discussions. The mission emphasized that time is running out to act on these crucial changes.

The EU deployed its Election Follow-Up Mission (EU EFM) to Monrovia on May 10, 2026, with a mandate to gauge Liberia’s progress on electoral reforms. The team assessed how well the country has acted on recommendations from the 2023 EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM). According to the mission, work remains impartial and fully respects the country’s sovereignty.

Led by Andreas Schieder—Member of the European Parliament and former chief observer of the 2023 EU EOM—the mission has engaged with a cross-section of key stakeholders in recent days. These include President Josef Nyuma Boakai, top government officials, National Elections Commission (NEC) leadership, political parties, civil society organizations, media representatives, and international partners.

Speaking to reporters in Monrovia, Schieder urged Liberian authorities—especially the Government, Legislature, and NEC—to move from promises to action. He called for urgent steps to review constituency boundaries, close legal gaps, ensure timely funding for the NEC, and push for gender equality in politics, all to boost public trust ahead of 2029.

Schieder noted that the EU’s recommendations—alongside those from other election observers—are guiding ongoing reforms and helping stakeholders and donors reinforce Liberia’s electoral system.

“I note a strong commitment from the authorities and most notably from President Boakai to use the EU recommendations as one of the bases to improve the election process”, Schieder highlighted. Andreas Schieder further stressed the importance of advancing reforms in other key areas addressed by the EU recommendations, including the media and social media environments and regulations, campaign finance, and the resolution of electoral disputes.

He emphasized that these reforms should be pursued “in the same consultative manner that has characterized reform processes thus far in order to strengthen public confidence in, and the integrity of the 2029 elections”. EU EOM formulated 22 recommendations based on its observation of the 2023 elections.

Among these, the mission called for an increase in the number of voter registration centres, strengthened NEC capacity to oversee and enforce campaign finance provisions, the timely publication of election-related information, enhanced training for polling staff, the harmonisation of the existing population register with a view to improving the quality of the voter register, ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates, and improving accessibility to polling stations, among other issues.

On 29 May, the EU EFM organized a roundtable where participants, including electoral authorities, legislators, civil society, and the media, discussed progress in implementing the recommendations and next steps for electoral reform. In the coming weeks, the EU Election Follow-Up Mission will release a final report outlining its findings on the implementation status of the 2023 EU EOM recommendations.