Monrovia – The flow of traffic in Monrovia, especially along the Tubman Boulevard is abnormal this Saturday afternoon, presidential candidate Cllr. Charles Brumskine has seized the streets, locked it down with thousands of supporters to launch his election campaign.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The launch is taking place at the party’s headquarters in Congo Town, outside the main capital where Cllr. Brumskine will deliver a speech to his supporters.
Cllr. Brumskine made a comeback to politics in 2016 after publicly resigning in 2011 upon losing the election to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that year and an earlier one in 2005.
His return to politics, according to him, is because he is the most suitable to replace President Sirleaf, fight corruption and create equal opportunities for all Liberians including the physically challenged and the elderly.
Cllr. Brumskine is one of 20 candidates contesting in upcoming presidential elections slated for October 10.
Key amongst his priorities are providing free compulsory education, quality health care and eradicating corruption.
Like the rest of the candidates, Cllr. Brumskine promises to bring change to Liberians and improve their quality of life.
He often criticized Pres. Sirleaf’s government of failing to address corruption and improving the lives of Liberians – the same reasons for which he says Vice President Joseph Boakai should not be elected as President.
Cllr. Brumskine is making his third quest for the Liberian presidency.
When Charles Taylor became President in 1997, Cllr. Brumskine served as President Pro Temp of the Senate.
The pair fell apart in 1999 forcing Cllr. Brumskine to flee the country after being threatened by Taylor’s supporters.
He returned to Liberia in 2003 with plans to run in the scheduled 2003 Presidential election.
However, Taylor’s resignation that year and the installment of a two-year transitional government, led to the elections being cancelled.
In 2004, Cllr. Brumskine campaigned for the Presidency as a member of the Liberty Party, pledging to reconcile the country after years of civil war.
He received nearly 14% of the vote, 6% less than the second-place candidate, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, forcing him out of the runoff.
Cllr. Brumskine contested the 2011 elections, but failed to match his performance in 2005, finishing a distant fourth with only five percent of the vote.
This time around, the party appears confident of a much better performance following the selection of Harrison Karnwea, former head of the Forestry Development Authority as Cllr. Brumskine’s running mate.
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