Monrovia – The head of the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) Benoni W. Urey says if anyone will head the ticket of the CPP, that person has to be voted at a primary.
Mr. Urey, who is also political leader of All Liberians Political Party, made the assertion Wednesday, February 19, at the headquarters of Lonestar cell MTN communications in the oldest Congo Town.
The CPP sprung into life in 2018 with major opposition political parties aiming to form a united front against the governing Coalition for Democratic Change ahead of the 2023 presidential elections.
However, the issue of having a complete political framework including a political leader for what appears to be an alliance continues to dogg the arrangement.
According to reports, there is a suggestion from the ANC, one of the political parties within the CPP regarding a Voter Perception Survey (VPS) to elect the standard-bearer of the CPP, something Mr. Urey frowns on.
“I Benoni Urey will not be part of anything; other than going to a primary to elect our standard-bearer. We will not give the right to a foreign group to do a survey,” Urey said.
“The people who have the right to vote the standard-bearer must not be comprised.”
Despite those differences within the CPP, Urey was “pleased to announce to you today that the collaboration is still strong.”
‘Boakai is the Most Experienced’
As the four political parties search among themselves for someone who will be on its ticket, Urey says he is not bothered about the search.
“Joe Boakai is the most experience; Cumming is a young successful man and I still maintain that statement. For me, it is not who becomes President. Liberia needs the best. Whoever the CPP makes standard-bearer, I will accept it,” Urey said.
“I Benoni Urey will not be part of anything; other than going to a primary to elect our standard-bearer. We will not give the right to a foreign group to do a survey.”
– Benoni Urey, head of the Collaborating Political Parties
ANC Supporter Rants
A few hours after Mr. Urey assertion, many stauch members of ANC took to Facebook to express their disappointment in the ALP political leader’s statement.
Mouna Farhat wrote: Don’t even know whether Urey is a factor. The man can not even travel to America.”
According to her, former Vice President Boakai is not experienced and more qualified than the ANC political leader Alexandra Cummings.
“If Joe boakai travels around the world and is successful and becomes a millionaire then he can be compared to Cummings,” she said.
Int’l Community Must Take Over Elections – Urey
Meanwhile, ALP’s political leader said in order to have a free and fair election, the International community needs to take over all electoral processes in Liberia.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on the international community and call on all political parties and the people of Liberia including the diaspora that the international community must take over the 2020 senatorial election and 2023 general and presidential elections as well,” stressed Benoni Urey, who added that without the intervention of the international community the processes will not be “free and fair.”
Mr. Urey averred, “In the absence of that let them take over the data processing department at the National Elections Commission.”
Referencing the 2019 district 15 elections in Montserrado county, Mr. Urey stated that the process was fraudulent because the supreme court ruled that the elections data had a lot of flaws and it needed to be corrected.
“As we speak today it has not been corrected; during the district 15 elections, the election commission themselves recognize that there was a problem with the data that why they order a rerun in a part of district 15,” he referenced.
According to him, there is “clear evidence” that the data center of the NEC cannot be trusted.
He is, however, calling on all politicians in the country to join him in calling on the international community save the political space of Liberia.
“If we don’t fight for that to happen then the president might as well appoint the senators,” he urged.