-Protesters to decide next course of action on Monday
By Frank Saiworla, Jr, fsainworla@yahoo.com
The failure of the June 7 organizers to present their petition to the Weah government on Friday was mitigated by praises for the maturity exercised by both protesters and the Liberia National Polices in their security operations on Friday.
The much-publicized anti-government protest against massive corruption and other bad governance practices passed off peacefully, despite pent up tensions and suspicion that it could go wrong and erupt into violence. With the CDC government itself contributing to spiking the tension ahead of June 7, many Liberians began to reflect on the violence that was associated with the April 14, 1979 rice riot in which scores of people lost their lives along with massive looting in Monrovia.
So jittery, the government went all out to try to undermine the protest by evening ordering internet providers to block Facebook and other social media networks on the morning of the protest. This was first revealed by an international internet observatory.
“Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and messaging app WhatsApp have been blocked by internet providers in Liberia as of Friday 7 June 2019, according to real-time network measurement data from the NetBlocks internet observatory, https://netblocks.org/reports/libera-blocks-social-media-to-quell-monrovia-anti-corruption-protests-RyjozX8g”
But all that did not flare up tempers and did not even cause the protest to lose its peaceful nature amidst the huge crowd of protesters converging on Capitol Hill as early as 8am GMT. All along, the June 7 organizers have insisted on exercising their constitutional right under Article 17 of the Liberian constitution, which guarantees all citizens the right to peacefully assemble.
Many callers on local radio talk shows and Journalists covering the Friday’s protest commended the police and protesters for keeping the peace, with some comparing the police June 7 operations to last year’s citizens’ protest demanding forensic international investigations in the “missing billions” saga.
Despite some complaints by some protesters traveling from outside Monrovia that police were requesting national ID and other photo ID cards making it impossible for them to reach Capitol Hill, Police and other security forces remained professional. From the manner in which they manned the newly created checkpoints to holding their position on Capitol Hill, they kept the Liberian capital safe, while protesters comported themselves in an orderly manner.
At least 20 international observers were deployed to monitor the protest.
One of the officials of the Council of Patriots, Mr. Mo Ali, Assistant Secretary General of the main opposition Unity Party told the local Joy FM on Friday evening, that the police acted professionally while they (the protesters) conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.
A www.newspublictrust.com Reporter said he witnessed incidents where the police and protesters were sharing sachets of drinking water, as police who cordoned off the protest/assembly venue only carried their riot shield but did not carry weapons.
Friday’s planned presentation of the “Save the state” protesters’ petition to the Liberian government hit a snag.
First, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor was not on hand to receive the petition at 3PM local time as was expected. Instead Foreign Minister Gbehzongar Findley and Justice Minister Cllr. Frank Musa Dean came up to proxy. But when they up to receive the petition but was told it couldn’t be given unless authorities release five of their supporters who were arrested two days ago. Among those being held is the Chairman of the campus-based Student Unification Party (SUP) at the University of Liberia, who was arrested near the UL Capitol Hill campus on the eve of the protest while mobilizing against police interrogation of one of the key leader of the protest, Representative Yekeh Kolubah of Montserrado County District #10.
One of the protest organizers from the Council of Patriots, Mr. Wilmot Paye, Chairman of the former ruling Unity Party rallied the tuned up protesters by saying, if the five individuals are not released, no petition will be presented.
But that demand could not be immediately met, as Justice Minister Dean said police investigation of the five were being concluded and that the protesters’ lawyer, Cllr. Lavali Supuwood was following through. And that brought the whole scheduled petitioning aspect to a complete held, as the Minister parted with the protester.
For some time there was an air of uncertainty as to what would happen next: will the peaceful and orderly nature of June 7 degenerate into losing of tempers? Will the protesters then decide to camp out on Capitol Hill overnight in violation of their promised made to ECOWAS and the UN that the protest will be for only one day?
However, as the evening gradually came, one of the spokesman for the Council of Patriots (COP), vocal radio talk show host, Henry Costa mounted the decorated trailer truck stage mounted in front of the Capitol Building to call on the protesters to go home.
Mr. Costa then announced that a press conference will be held on Monday, June 10, 2019, when the COP will announce its next course of action in Monrovia.
What their next course of action will be on Monday is not known. But it will certainly hinge on the release of their five supporters and behind the scene dialogue/negotiations carried out over this weekend, with diplomats from ECOWAS and the United Nations weighing in, no doubt.