By Our Staff Writer
The opposition Liberty Party (LP) has called on President George Manneh Weah to reconcile the nation, while giving its full backing to the June 7 planned street protest in Monrovia.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, LP’s National Chairman, Mr. Steve Zargo said giving the mounting political tensions in the country, President Weah needs to rise to the occasion by spearheading a reconciliation process to reduce the tensions.
A reconciliation meeting called by the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) was boycotted by the Chairman of the ruling CDC and other political parties. LCC’s President Bishop Kortu Brown had to call it off at the last minute, promising to hold the dialogue at a later date.
Just 48 hours after Wednesday’s abortive meeting among ruling and opposition parties’ officials, President Weah and Montserrado County District #10 Representative Yekeh Korlubah had held a dialogue meeting at the President’s private residence in Paynesville, outside Monrovia.
Mr. Zargo, who is Senator of Lofa County, said the state of governance in the country was poor and the economic situation is worsening.
He said this is why the LP is in full support of the upcoming peaceful protest, which the citizens have the right to do in line with Articles 1 and 17 of the Liberian constitution guaranteeing peaceful assembly to petition their government about their grievances.
The June 7 protest, code name “Save the State”, is also being staged to demand the removal of Finance Minister Samuel Tweah who presided over the US25 million mop up exercise, which the international Kroll and local PIT audit reports found to have been characterized by gross discrepancies.
As the opposition Liberty Party was urging the President, the Executive Mansion was threatening that the CDC government will arrest planners of the June 7 protest, who including leaders of the four collaborating political parties, if the planned protest becomes chaotic.
Deputy Presidential Press Secretary Toby told a news conference on Wednesday that should any violence erupt during the June 7 protest, the government will not arrest the ordinary protesters on the street but will go after the organizers.
The President’s office claimed that organizers of the protest have collected hundreds of thousands of US dollars and are paying US$5 each to vulnerable youths in Liberia to join the demonstration.
“The President is aware that the protesters have received US$350,000 to pay vulnerable citizens to protest on June 7; and has therefore budgeted US$5 for each of the protesters. Again, the government will not go for innocent citizens if the protest turned chaotic, but the planners,” Deputy Press Secretary Toby asserted.
“We hear people from the Alternative National Congress (ANC), the Unity Party (UP), All Liberian Party (ALP) and the Liberty Party (LP) talking about the protest. It is their members who keep talking about the protest. This money can be used to build factories instead of paying people to take to the streets,” Mr. Toby alleged.
“The facility is valued US$112,000, with computers, chairs, tables and the two and half parcel of land. We are hoping that they will utilize their new facility. This is not something that the President has given and wants people to write good story about him, but everywhere people just criticize and think that it is meant to buy the journalists,” Toby said.
One of the organizers of the planned June 7 protest, vocal radio talk show host, Mr. Henry Costa rubbished the claim from the Presidency on his Thursday morning program.
Some callers on his Costa Show criticized the threat from the Executive Mansion and said that the Deputy Press Secretary’s utterance has encouraged them to join the June 7 protest action.
Meanwhile, after abandoning his Foreign Ministry office for several days, Press Secretary Toby announced that President Weah will resume work there this Thursday.
Recently, two snakes were discovered on the ground floor of this building, something that caused its temporary closure.
The snakes are said to have disappeared.
Mr. did not say whether the snakes have since been killed but he said, “the snakes were seen on the ground floor of the Ministry, and were spotted by many of those who were on duty at the fateful hour.”