Sanniquelle, Nimba County – Supporters of the Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC) and Liberty Party (LP) Wednesday clashed in Sanniquelle, Nimba County, September 20, 2017, leaving a trail of destruction, while scores of partisans from both parties were injured.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Police had to move in to quell the disturbances that occurred and lasted about an hour as it spilled to nearby areas of the city.
When FrontPageAfrica reporter arrived on the scene, there was a heavy Police presence, while shop owners closed owing to the tense situation.
But both parties blame each other of causing the violence.
Mulbah Morlu, an elite member of the CDC while calling on the state-run radio ELBC Wednesday blamed Liberty Party for the disturbance.
“The Liberty Party provoked the disturbance because they had one of their vehicles blocking the convoy of the CDC from entering into Sanniquellie, which I think was a recipe for disturbance,” he said.
Morlu said the CDC had always believed in peace and would continue to put in measures that would make the country an oasis peace and development.
He said: “Democracy is too precious to be swept away because of the quest for power, and CDC will, in our capacity as the people’s party, do everything possible to maintain peace and unity.”
Morlu said the CDC standard bearer would want to be president of a united Liberia and would, therefore, not condone any act that could undermine the peace and unity of the country.
He said as a responsible political party, the CDC would play its role meaningfully and urged other stakeholders to play their roles well to ensure an incident-free October polls.
Liberty Party blames CDC for disturbance
In its reaction, the Liberty Party claimed that it wrote the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the National Elections Commission (NEC) about its campaign launch in the city of Sanniquelle, Nimba County and was given permission for the program to be held Wednesday, September 20, 2017.
According to its Assistant Secretary General, Kla Toomey, Liberty Party said when it was about to launch its campaign in Sanniquelle early Wednesday, a CDC campaign team headed by its standard bearer, Senator George Weah, entered Sanniquelle and reportedly made a verbal request to the LNP for protection to carry on a political rally.
Said request from the CDC, according to Toomey, was turned down by the Police in an effort to prevent tension between supporters of the two parties.
But about few minutes after the start of the LP campaign rally, a group of parading CDCians (partisans of CDC) headed by Weah attempted passing through Liberty Party crowd but were prevented by the Police and told by partisans of Liberty Party to detour through another direction to avoid tension.
FrontPageAfrica can report that CDCians insisted on passing through the Liberty Party crowd and violently overwhelmed the Police, who tried to prevent them.
Liberia’s pre-election jitters
Since the 2011 runoff election in which one partisan of the CDC was shot and killed by Liberian Police, three letters continue to dominate Liberia’s political discourse — EV.
The acronym stands for election violence and refers to the bloody aftermath of the November 7, 2011 incidence between supporters of the CDC and the Police.
And Wednesday’s clash between supporters of LP and CDC coupled with comments made by the CDC that it will announce its own result seems to be casting dark shadows over the upcoming October 10 presidential and legislative elections.
Given the prestige and considerable perks attached to this year’s election in Liberia, the stakes are high, according to political observers.
In Ganta, Nimba County, one of Liberia’s busiest cities , supporters of rival candidates for the ruling Unity Party and the opposition All Liberian Party of businessman Benoni Urey last week clashed over whose poster could go on a particular lamppost.
During the fray, a middle-aged man was beaten repeatedly.
When he tried to escape, he was run over and beaten severely. Another person was admitted to hospital.
For Liberians who have lived through periodic bouts of political violence, these incidents bring back bad memories — and fears for the future.
James Suah, a resident of Gbarnga who lost his father during Liberia’s 14 years of civil war, is worried about a repeat of that.
“Already there is tension in the country just from the politicians’ talk. “
“There are high expectations for winning on both sides and unfortunately there will be a small margin by the winner. The very thin line is very dangerous as many contenders will claim they (the elections) were rigged,” he said.
He argues that Liberia has not healed from the civil war because justice was not done.
Franklin Doloquee contributed to this report