Monrovia – When Mulbah K. Yorgbor Jr. posted a photograph of him on plane with two rival candidates in this year’s Liberia Presidential elections, Senator George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change and Cllr. Charles Brumskine of the Liberty Party, he had no idea that it would generate so much interest, much more trigger the speculations that has followed.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Social media has been buzzing with reports that both candidates were on their way to Abuja, Nigeria where a very influential Nigerian businessman had summoned them in a bid to convince them that he would support them if they ran on the same ticket together.
The speculations were also bolstered by a photo post showing former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan with Liberty Party’s chairman Benjamin Sanvee and Cllr. Brumskine’s daughter, Charlyne Brumskine, with the line:
“The last time in Liberia that power changed from ruling party to opposition was in 1870.”
“It is difficult for power to concede power. But it can and will be done. This man did it.”
“He was the first sitting Nigerian President to concede defeat. I salute you sir.
President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan! Liberia, Change Is Coming Opposition!”
Mr. Yorgbor, who is a member of the ruling Unity Party said the speculations are far from the truth.
“There is no collaboration. Weah and I talked throughout that flight, he and Brumskine barely spoke.”
“Weah got off in Abidjan and Brumskine continued to Abuja with me in the business class.”
Speculations have been rife for weeks that Weah and the CDC have been contemplating dropping his running mate Senator Jewel Howard Taylor from the ticket.
Those reports heightened after Mr. Yorgbor’s post this week.
When asked if he expected the photo to generate so much attention, Yorgbor said, “When I uploaded them, it was just to show how we can compete on ideas and still be human. Politics shouldn’t take away our humanity.”
“I would later remember that the stakes were high back home especially in light of the Code of conduct”
He added: “But it was a singular honor for me to sit with those two greats sons”
Sam Mannah, Public Relations Officer in the office of Senator Weah, in a statement Wednesday addressed the situation, stating that Senator Weah has full confidence in his running mate and has no intentions of dropping her from the ticket.
The statement read: “The Office of Senator George Weah’s attention has been drawn to falsehoods being perpetrated by the Unity Party’s Assistant Secretary General for Press and Public Affairs, and other detractors indicating that both Senator George Weah and Counsellor Charles Brumskine travelled to Abuja on Saturday, July 8, 2017, in an effort to have further discussions on a possible merger.
While it is expected for speculations of such magnitude to permeate, especially as we approach the height of our political season, we would like to emphatically state that at no time did Senator George Weah’s and Cllr. Charles Brumskine’s travel involve any political discussion of such nature and neither did their conversation center around a possible merger and/or consideration of the pair going on one ticket.
Notwithstanding, we want to further clarify that though both Senator George Weah and Counsellor Charles Brumskine did depart Liberia on the same flight on Saturday, the pair did not travel to the same destination.
It was simply a rare coincidence for the two political leaders to have been on the same flight departing Liberia together.
Senator George Weah cherished his time interacting with Counsellor Brumskine on the flight including the photo sessions, and looks forward to having more of such moments with other political stakeholders.
Senator Weah believes such camaraderie in the political class is necessary and displays solidarity as Liberians, and nothing more, as is being speculated by some.
We want to further convey that Senator Weah is of the belief that we are Liberians first and foremost, and nothing should tear us apart nor deter us from displaying unity and patriotism should the need arise, despite our different political affiliations.
Additionally, we would like to be as emphatically clear as we can be in emphasizing that Senator Weah has absolutely no intentions now, or in the near future of ever changing his Vice Standard Bearer, Senator Jewel Howard Taylor, as is being speculated as one of the reasons for the travel.
We term this speculation as reckless and see it as a clever attempt by the Unity Party to divert the public’s attention from the corruption permeated political hegemony recently unveiled in an effort to continue to amass wealth and enrich themselves for another 6 years at the expense of the Liberian people.
Finally, We would like to stress that Senator Taylor enjoys the full confidence of Senator Weah as his Vice Standard Bearer by virtue of the fact that on Friday, July 7, 2017, the Coalition’s official nomination documents were filed with the NEC, presenting both Senators Weah and Taylor as the official ticket for the Coalition for Democratic Change for the ensuing October 2017 elections. In the spirit of unity and patriotism, and for a better Liberia, we remain opposition strong and united!