PHOTO: NPP Sec. General Peters, Former Speaker Alex Tyler, Moses Kollie, and NPP Chairman, Sen. James Biney
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Ten months to presidential and legislative elections on the second Tuesday in October 2023, the fate of the ruling 3-party Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) hangs in the balance, with early warning signs coming from two of the constituent parties—NPP and LPDP.
One of the three constituent member parties in the CDC, jailed former President Charles Ghankay Taylor’s former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) has warned that the survival of the coalition lies in the hands of President George Weah for him to demonstrate fairness among the three constituent political parties.
NPP National Chairman, Maryland County Senator James Biney has said with ten months to the 2023 polls in Liberia, the two other constituent members of the coalition, the NPP and the Liberia People’s Democratic Party (LPDP) of former Speaker Alex Tyler, need to be given their fair share now, but not after the elections. The third party constituting the current ruling CDC is President George Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change.
Sen. Biney issued the warning and made the demand when he delivered the keynote speech at a program marking the opening of the second national convention of the Liberia People’s Democratic Party held in Tubmanburg, Bomi County over the weekend.
The Maryland County Senator made it unequivocally clear that the coalition must adopt a democratic approach for the nomination of candidates for legislative seats.
According to him, the resolution currently being signed by in the legislature by lawmakers to effectively impose themselves on the coalition as candidates is dead on arrival.
The NPP National Chairman claimed that the coalition failed miserably in 2020 midterm election primarily because candidates were imposed on the Coalition.
A cross-section of delegates at the LPDP 2nd National Convention
Chairman Biney complained that with the about ten months before the holding of the presidential and legislative elections, the NPP does not have any appointee on the cabinet level.
He maintained that there will never be business as usual and it is the time for the LPDP and the NPP to be given its recognition as equal constituent members.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Alex Tyler has been re-elected as the political leader of the Liberia People’s Democratic Party for the next five.
Others re-elected were Chief Moses Kollie and Eric Kpayea, National Secretary General, Edward Goba, National Vice Chairman for Legal Affairs among others.
Another group of delegates at the LPDP 2nd National Convention in Bomi
They were re-elected based on a resolution adopted at the end of the second national convention of Liberia People’s Democratic Party held in Tubmanbrug during the weekend.
Speaking shortly after his re-election, former Speaker Alex Tyler dispelled the notion among some members of the Coalition for Democratic Change, the LPDP and NPP are inferior to the Congress for Democratic Change
Meanwhile, the second national convention of the Liberia People’s Democratic Party has ended with the adoption of a number of resolutions.
The National Vice Chairman for Press and Public Affairs of the LPDP, George Woodtor, who read the resolution, said among other things adopted the new constitution of the party and agreed to work with the Coalition for Democratic Change in the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
According to him, the resolution also retained all officers of the national executive committee of the LPDP for another six years.
The ceremony, which was held under the theme: “Building Unity in Diversity,” was graced the Legislative Caucus of the CDC, Mulbah Morlu, National Chairman of the CDC; Andrew Peters, Secretary General of the NPP; former Bomi Senator, Richard Devine, traditional leaders, chiefs, youths and women groups.