GBARNGA Liberia- Dozens of campaigning youths of Unity Party (UP) and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), the two leading political parties now headed for Liberia’s November 7 run-off have argued for which one of them will better keep the peace in Liberia during and after the run-off presidential election.
A corps of bipartisan youth leaders from the two parties in the run-off elections, UNITY PARTY and the CONGRESS (COALITION FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (CDC) appeared as guest panelists, dialogued and debated with perspectives on which of the parties is more committed to keeping electoral peace during and after the 2017 polls, according to LMDI press release.
The peaceful election dialogue forum, which took place over the weekend, is syndicated on John Kollie’s LMDI 45 partner radio stations across Liberia and is being sponsored by SIDA, the Carter Center, USAID and UNDP.
The two parties were represented by three youth leaders each, a total of six, to make up their claims to being the peace maker over the other in past, present and future elections.
The Unity Party (UP) the ruling party now led by Vice President JOSEPH NYUMAH BOAKAI was represented by TORMUE QUEMINEE, SHEIK SHERRIF and TARWO WOLONFAH while the COALTION FOR DEMOCRATIC (CDC) of former World Football Legend GEORGE M. WEAH had IDRISS BILITY, RAYMOND ROBERTS and HABAKUK WONMEI as representatives.
In a debate style interactive DIALOGUE forum, the bipartisan youths resented their cases for keeping electoral peace in the country. It all began with the CDC team headed by IDRISS BILITY presenting that they are the peaceful party over the Ruling Unity Party because in his initial argument, they have lost two presidential elections to the UP
and gracefully accepted the results in spite of shots being fired at them.
BILITY narrated that early November 2011, when they lost the elections, they were fired at but still kept the country’s peace by their peaceful response to the violent move by the then Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led UP government.
BILITY argued that what happened to the CDC on November 7, 2011 leading to the boycott of the elections and the unhindered conduct of that election would never have happened in Liberia’s neighbors like Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Ghana, pointing to violent response of the UP led Government to a peaceful demonstration by supporters of the CDC.
BILITY furthered that the CDC has been in the opposition for 12 years now without any violent history or an upheaval to the government, but that it is the CDC and ambassador George who should rather be worried
about the UP if it loses the elections because according to him, it is former UP former standard Bearer, ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF who is known to have rejected elections results in the past and resulted to supporting rebel insurrections in Liberia.
He contended that the CDC’s founding and current standard bearer, GEORGE M. WEAH has stood the test of time in the opposition for 12 years but that the Unity Party has never stood such test of time in the contemporary political dispensation in Liberia.
Buttressed by his two colleagues, BILITY insisted that the CDC is the peaceful party per history and should be given the chance to lead.
They used the platform to dispel what they alleged as the fear driven propaganda being spread by the Unity Party that if the CDC wins the presidential run-off, there will be civil unrest or war in Liberia.
They condemned such speculation as mere scare mongering for political gains at the expense of the peaceful partisans of the CDC.
All good defenses put forth by the CDC team, but when their Unity Party colleagues took the podium, they sought to upset the CDC claims. Led by TORMUE QUEMINEE, the Unity Party youth representation at the forum began with claims that they are instead worried about the conduct of the CDC post November 7 run off. He said the opposition led by the CDC has said worst things about the leadership of the Unity Party, but that the UP led government did nothing to derail the peace of the country.
TORMUE QUEMINEE argued the Unity Party has been unquestionably tolerant in its last 12 year leadership especially with free speech.
He contended that the CDC is the one going after people who criticize them even while they have not got state power. He said it is worrisome to see the CDC going after critics while they are out of power, inferring that the CDC could be of greater harm with armed security at their disposal.
QUEMINEE pointed to the alleged attempted mobbing of vocal talks show host HENRY COSTA by supporters of the COALITION FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (CDC).
The Unity Party youth leader warned his CDC colleagues against harboring the thought that numbers in the first round would be added to the upcoming figures in the run-off. He said such though by the CDC will is dangerous and will prove counter-productive the general democratic spirit of the 2017 elections as all numbers acquired in the
first round are considered diminished and its all gains are now up for grasp by any of the two political parties. To this extent, TORMUE QUEMINE proffered that the Unity Party rather suits the argument as the peaceful party over the CDC and should therefore be allowed to lead.
Though fiercely contentious in their various arguments, the bipartisan youths of the CDC and Unity Party generally committed themselves to keeping the peace after the November 7 presidential election run-off and made passionate pleas to their supporters to accept the results of the November Run-off with open and peace minds for the greater future of Liberia.
The Liberia bipartisan youth leaders were joined by dozens of their fellow youths in the audience with questions & answers and concerns and suggestions about keeping the peace. The forum under the LMDI People To People (P2P) flagship platform, “THE DIALOGUE” sat at the Bong Social and Athletic Intellectual Center at down town Gbarnga
City.
The forum held at the weekend was the latest in a series of intensive and sustained National DIALOGUE forums aimed at preventing youth oriented post elections violence supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the CARTER CENTER facilitated PEACE ACTION NETWORK (PAN).