-Its Senatorial candidate Paulita Wie denies congratulating Dillon
By Our Staff Writer
The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of President George Manneh Weah is really now in political trouble, with a dramatic fall in its popularity barely 18 months after taking office on January 22, 2019.
Just hours after the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced the provincial results in the Monday, July 29, 2019 Senatorial By-election, which puts the opposition Liberty Party’s candidate, Diarus Dillon in a comfortable lead, the CDC has issued a statement conceding defeat to Dillon.
The candidate of the CDC, Ms. Paulita CC Wie was far behind Dillion as he had so far received 53,270 votes tallied or 53.88 percent, while Paulita C.C. Wie of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) obtained 36,531 votes or 36.95 percent of the total votes cast.
The CDC had in past elections swept most Legislative seats in Montserrado County.
CDC candidate in Montserrado County District #15 Representative race, Mr. Abu Mana Kamara has received 5,515 votes or 45.95 percent of all the votes tallied so far in Montserrado electoral District #15, while his closest rival, Telia Urey of the four collaborating political parties, received 4,540 votes or 37.89 percent.
But this provisional result is being contested by Ms. Telia Urey of the ALP, who made public her disagreement on her Facebook pager earlier today (Thursday). Her father, Mr. Benoi Urey, leader of the party and head of the four-party Collaborating Political Parties earlier called for US Embassy to intervene in ensuring that the election results are not tempered with by the CDC government.
The CDC’s declining performance comes amidst reports of dissatisfaction within in the rank and file of the party, which was in opposition for 12 years during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her Unity Party.
Paulita denies congratulating Dillon
Earlier on Thursday, CDC Senatorial candidate Paulita Wie denied sending congratulatory message to her opponent, Dillon.
This is what she said on her Facebook page to clarify:
The statement released was issued on Thursday by CDC’s Chairman Mulbah Morlu says:
“Fellow Liberians and our great peace-loving supporters, we greet you this morning from the Headquarters of the Mighty Coalition for Democratic Change. We again want to appreciate all Liberians, especially our partisans and supporters for braving the storm to participate in these by-elections. We especially want to thank the gallant men and women of District 15 for coming out en masse to cast their votes.
We fought a good fight and have reached a final conclusion, in the aftermath of the National Elections Commission official announcement of preliminary results, which projects Mr. Abu B. Kamara as winner of District #15. Whilst congratulating Mr. Kamara, the CDC as Liberia’s biggest democratic institution, likewise congratulates Mr. Abraham Darius Dillion of the Liberty Party as the presumptive winner of the Senatorial Elections of Montserrado County.
In the history of our democratic struggles, we have always fought for free, fair, transparent and credible elections and as such, we cannot and will not contradict our stance, nor betray our legacy.
Our dynamic Standard Bearer and supporters, we the members of the National Executive Committee of this great party are committed to all of you. Now is the time that we have to swallow the bitter pills by taking some hard decisions both in government and our party. We commit to continuously seeking the interest of Liberians. Most importantly, our supporters who stood with us during our difficult days in the struggle must continue to be empowered. We can no longer sugarcoat this reality. The moral demands to empower our people is a fierce urgency that remains our first line of defense as we serve our country.
The verdict from our people in the just-ended polls in Montserrado is not only a wakeup call to action, but an insistence the party will not ignore to change course.
Our officials in both the Legislature and the Executive will have to live in accordance with our Pro-Poor Agenda or, they will have to vacate the government and our beloved party. We have reached the point where we will separate party actions from the actions of some officials of government, where necessary; the period for honeymoon is over. The jobs we gave to you is to help our President succeed and, not to undermine our hard-earned gains.
Our President is a popular person with a good heart for all Liberians. We all have to help our leader deliver for the people of Liberia. This election doesn’t mean that our government is unpopular with the people of Liberia. What it means is that our partisans and the people of Liberia in general need us most at this critical juncture in our national political journey.
My fellow partisans, we are emerging stronger than ever in our political history, and with this increasing strength we shall never repeat a loss in our stronghold of Montserrado County again.
In conclusion, we hereby announce an extraordinary meeting of the entire party structure on this Saturday to build consensus with partisans and stakeholders as we work overtime to remain a united and stronger party towards 2020, when the mighty party looks to redeeming Montserrado’s lost seat. Let us remain united.