Monrovia – One of the men leading plans for the pending June 7 protest, Abraham Darius Dillion and the daughter of All Liberian Party political leader Benoni Urey, Telia J. Urey have been certified by the collaborating opposition political parties to contest the Montserrado County By-elections.
Report by Wilie N. Tokpah, [email protected]
Dillion will run for the Senate while Urey will contest in District #15 by-election of Montserrado County.
“The collaborating opposition political parties comprising of All Liberian Party, Alternative National Congress, Liberty Party, and the Unity Party have endorsed the candidacy of Partisan Abraham Darius Dillon of the Liberty Party and Partisan Telia J. Urey of the All Liberian Party for both the senatorial and representative (District 15) by-elections in Montserrado County,” said Daniel Flomo Naatehn, Chairman of ANC, reading a statement of endorsement Wednesday, May 15, 2019.
According to the endorsement, Dillion, a tough-talking political figure in Liberia, will be contesting the senatorial race in the upcoming by-elections slated for June 2, 2019, while Madam Urey will contest the vacancy in Montserrado County District 15.
Speaking at the ANC headquarters, Naatehn said the move demonstrates ongoing efforts by the opposition collaborating political parties to enhance and sustain the existing relationship.
“This endorsement is a demonstration of the collaborating opposition political parties ongoing efforts to further enhance cooperation, confidence building, and mutual respect as a basis for the consolidation of our individual strength and capacity into a common purpose of building and sustaining our collaborative relationship,” Naatehn averred.
Naatehn reaffirms the collaborating opposition parties’ commitment to use the upcoming by-elections to propagate the essence of collaboration, calling all partisans, supporters, and Liberians to support the two candidates respectively.
The pending June 2, 2019, senatorial and representative by-elections in Montserrado County was occasioned by the deaths of Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff and Representative Adolf A. Lawrence.
Following their endorsements, the two favored by the opposition political collaboration in separate statements said they are on the pathway to transform the National Legislature.
Dillon, the Opposition Collaboration choice for the Senate, said his intention to occupy the senatorial vacancy is not about his personal interest, but to create check and balance at the Legislature.
“It is not about me, but about the Liberian people and creating check and balance at the Legislature and to uphold credibility. I am going to the Legislature to firstly expose the dollars and cents that a lawmaker makes.
“You can have the vision to change things but when you don’t have authority, there will be no change,” Dillon explained his plan to make things work.
He believes his 16 years of experience in public service can ably support his dream of transforming and upholding credibility at the National Legislature.
Dillon said that not many Liberians, including the media, know the total amounts that public servants make even though it is their right to know.
He added that public officials should be concern about the services they render, instead of focusing on making huge salaries at the expense of ordinary Liberians.
As a result, he is proposing a cut down in the salary of officials to not more than US$5,000.
“And we must be able to justify why we take such amount. We should not make more than US$5, 000,” Dillon noted.
When quizzed about what difference his appearance for the second time in Montserrado County Senatorial race means, Dillon asserted that the mindsets of Liberians have changed.
He said: “The people have changed and their minds have changed. In 2009, the people did not know Darius Dillon this much, now they know him.
“In 2009, I was a ‘Rookie,’ meaning I was fresh and new, in 2019; ten years after, even the child that is crawling knows what Darius Dillon he stands for.”
The Montserrado County Senatorial hopeful in the same way described his critical stance on government as well-meaning, which he said is driving some members of the Coalition for Democratic Change to his camp.
At the same time, Dillon has planned to launch a protest at the Senate if elected, in compelling that august body to provide justification for making huge salaries.
“My first protest as a senator is to display to Liberians, before the media, what we make truly in dollars and cents.
There should be justification for why we are being paid so hugely when the teachers, security and other civil servants take barely anything.”
Meanwhile, Telia Urey told FrontPage Africa that she will work to the expectation of the people of Montserrado County District 15, and do whatever it takes to win the District’s by-election.
“I am going to be a representative that will be uncompromising and working to expose all ills in Liberia, especially at the house,” Urey maintained.
At the district level, she furthered that her main focus will center on job creation for citizens by using her business background in ensuring her plan works out.
Telia is also concern about health promotion and education advancement in district number 15, which she says is at a low scale.
Meanwhile, the daughter of businessman-cum-politician Benoni Urey added that in the midst of constraints faced by government to pay salaries, it will be incumbent upon her and other lawmakers to create alternative avenues for employment if she is elected.