Liberia, March 5 -- In doing so, we should be guided by certain basic and settled rules of constitutional interpretation. The first is that we should look to the plain text of the constitution to determine the intent of the framers. The second is that we should not interpret provisions of the constitution in isolation, but should read the document as a whole taking into account its structure and design. Finally, there is the rule that one provision of the constitution should not be interpreted as to defeat or render irrelevant other provisions.

Let's now apply these rules to two provisions of the constitution that are relevant to the tenure question. The first is Article 56, which provides that "cabinet ministers, deputy and assistant ca...