MONROVIA – The Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) being the most formidable opposition force in the upcoming mid-term senatorial election is drawing a lot of attention from the public, especially on how they’ll select candidates from the counties to the contest the midterm election.
Report By Henry Karmo [email protected]
The CPP Chairman, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, who is also the political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), recently said on the Costa Show that the CPP’s target is to win not less than 10 of the 15 seats under contest.
He said, with the signing of a frame work to guide the four opposition political parties which include the former ruling Unity Party (UP), the All Liberian Party (ALP) and the Liberty Party (LP).
But the sticky issue has been how the CPP would derive at candidates to contest each county in the mid-term senatorial elections. For many, this would be the litmus test for the CPP’s strength in its collaboration to outs the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the 2023 presidential elections.
The CDC comprises the Congress for Democratic Change headed by President George Weah, The National Patriotic Party (NPP) headed by Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor and the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP) headed by former Speaker J. Alex Tyler.
Last week, Bomi County Senator Sando Johnson, a staunch member of the NPP announced that he would contest on the ticket of the CPP in the forth coming senatorial election.
It is not clear how he became certain of being nominated by the CPP to contest Bomi County on its ticket.
This continues to breed worries among some members of the CPP with intentions to run for the midterm elections. It still remains uncertain how the candidates would be selected for the ballot.
In some quarters, it is believed that the framework document recently signed gives advantage to sitting lawmakers who have ambitions to contest future elections.
No Seat Given
Allaying this fear, Mr. Musa H. Bility, Liberty Party National Advisory Council, who helped in the framing of the document that solidified the collaboration said the CPP has not given any county to any individual in the upcoming election.
“The rumors that CPP has allocated counties to people is not true. I want to make it very clear we have signed a piece of document and there are process in that document. The CPP is determined to ensure that we feature winnable candidates, nothing else. How that will be done – our leaders will do that”.
Speaking at the LP headquarters Wednesday, Mr. Bility said, the CPP is obligated by member signature on the document to feature four women in the upcoming election. Bility assured his partisans that the party will ensure that the best candidates win. “We want to focus on building, we cannot go on politicking without building our institution; we love commitment,” he said.
He added, “Representation in this country has been difficult because there are political parties in this town, by the time people are elected they leave their political institutions which supported them. The CPP is determined to stop that so we will have legal requirement.”
Mr. Bility told the gathering of supporters that the CPP will support its candidates and ensure that they are the best and boasted that Liberty Party has some of the best the CPP is looking for. “LP will not take any prisoner in Grand Bassa County and the reason is this: it’s where our political leader is and to go after her means you want to eliminate us.
“If we are serious about presenting a battle, we must be serious about the candidates we choose so what LP will do is to provide a winnable, formidable candidates and we are committed to that. We will, in collaboration with the CPP, do extra work to campaign for our candidates.”
In related development, the Liberty Party has again received two new members into the party. The two new members are Dr. Foday Kromah, a former Senatorial candidate of Grand Cape Mount County and Dr. James Kemokai, a medical doctor, Government Hospital, Bo waterside.
The joining of the two new members comes just a week after the party received into membership two former superintendents and a former Deputy Speaker.
For her part, Senator Nyounblee Karnga Lawrence promised to do all she can to fight for the inclusion of women into the CPP selection process and welcomed into the party new members.