PHOTO: Alex Cummings and his likely competitors for CPP Standard Bearer
By William Selmah, wselmah@gmail.com
The political leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress (ANC) Alexander Cummings says he is certain he will emerge as the ultimate choice for president on the ticket of the Collaborating Political Party come 2023.
The one time head of Coca-Cola Africa said the task ahead for the next leadership is enormous and requires someone with a track record of success in past accomplishments. The four-party CPP comprises his ANC, the former ruling Unity Party of Joseph Boakai, Benoni Urey’s All Liberian Party and Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence’s Liberty Party.
The ANC political leader, who got just 7.2% of the votes in the 2017 presidential elections, has repeatedly said the only political position in Liberia he is interested in is the Presidency.
Mr. Cummings believes competing to become that final choice for a formidable side like the CPP is never going to be an easy road, but that he has already begun doing his ground work to ensure he emerges as that ultimate choice.
“To win the ticket, one must make a strong case and that’s what I’m beginning to do now,” Cummings said as he reminded compatriots that the task ahead of the leadership is huge. He explained that it involves first taking Liberia back to where the country was in 2018, before moving it forward.
The ANC leader was speaking on a special radio talk show in Monrovia on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 which was simulcast on six radio stations in Monrovia and its environs.
“We should be electing people or individuals with demonstrated record of achievement. What has the person done in their career? What have they achieved? The kinds of people around an individual should of course be of vital concern,” Cummings pointed out.
He used the occasion to caution against voting based on popularity or out of sympathy, saying part of Liberia’s problems is based on voting in such fashions.
The ANC leader also blamed Liberia’s underdevelopment on mismanagement, endemic corruption, cronyism and tribalism.
“There is lack of commitment to a national development plan that is inclusive of everybody; a plan that tries to do things right. We have not reconciled ourselves with one another and until we curb corruption, mismanagement and develop national development plan that takes into consideration everyone, we won’t make progress,” Mr. Cummings warned.
Cummings, who ran on the ANC ticket in the 2017 presidential election believes other regions of the country that remain largely underdeveloped are simply victims of exclusion.
“Successive administrations have not been inclusive. They focus on their partisans, friends and tribes instead of the country as a unit and working on a plan that is inclusive of everybody,” he said, adding that if the country must move forward, there is need to take some hard decisions.