Bomi County – In the wake of speculation of his ambition to contest the December 8 Special Senatorial election in Bomi County following his recent resignation from the former ruling Unity Party, Representative Edwin Melvin Snowe has received endorsement support from former Bomi County Senator Lahai Lassana.
Lassana, on Monday, July 6, announced that he is abandoning his ambition to contest the Senate seat while declaring support to Snowe, who is yet to make a public announcement about his new political venture.
During a press conference in Tubmanburg, the former Bomi County Senator who is the current chairman of the UP Bomi County Chapter, said because he is “party discipline” he has decided to quit his political quest after the party asked him to stand down.
He said: “I Lahai Gbagba Lassana Sr., Chairman of UP Bomi County, being obedient to my party and to those members who have asked me to relax my ambition, I am hereby accepting their request to abandon my quest and hereby support the party’s decision.”
He expressed disappoint in the party’s arrangement with the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) that forced him to make the decision.
He, however, pledged to remain a loyal partisan but promised that he would support Representative Snowe’s bid for the Senate.
He contends that the provision of the CPP framework document that allots counties to member parties was never expected, adding that he was not consulted when the decision was being made.
With support coming from the likes of Lassana, Snowe is now considered a formidable force that would give other aspirants a run for their money.
Former House Speaker Alex Tyler and incumbent Senator Sando Johnson have a herculean task of fending off the threat from Snowe, who has proven to be a formidable political figure since switching from Montserrado County to Bomi County in 2017.
It was rare political decision that some said was intended to prepare him for the county’s senatorial seat.
Meanwhile, Senator Johnson, a former hierarchy of the National Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2017, is optimistic about being selected as the CPP candidate in the impending poll.
Senator Johnson reaffirmed his membership to the NPP after the 2017 election but has since gone renegade and has been heard lambasting the ruling party on many occasions.
Not feeling welcomed by the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of which the NPP is a member, the outspoken politician seems to have sought asylum at the All Liberia Party (ALP) which he supported in 2017. ALP is one of four parties of the CPP – a situation that gives him the edge to be selected on the party’s ticket.
Alex Tyler, whose Liberia People Democratic Party is part of the ruling CDC, completes the list of three major candidates in the impending race.
Like Senator Johnson, the former House Speaker is well-seated to win the CDC ticket to contest in race. The possibilities of his chances are solidified considering that he is the political leader of one of the four parties that formed the ruling coalition.
Tyler joins the process with massive influence but with news of Snowe, his “former best friend” now rival joining the race, he faces a stumbling block.
Snowe and Tyler have a bitter-sweet past. The pair was political allies when they were members of the former ruling Unity Party. Then, they became rivals before Snowe joined an array of lawmakers who master-minded the removal of Tyler as Speaker of the 53rd Legislature.
Tyler was asked by his colleagues to recuse himself after he was indicted in a Global witness report that accused him of accepting bribe to change Liberia’s public procurement law.
Following a protracted trial, Tyler and others were later acquitted by the Supreme Court.
Ahead of the December election, Snowe, who is a Representative for Bomi County, achieved his seat in a hard-fought victory. Now, an Independent candidate, he will be looking to garner the support from spoils of Tyler and Johnson.
Last week, Representative Snowe terminated his 10 years membership with the former ruling party dealing a major blow to the CPP’s quest to win more seat in the Senate.
Prior to his announcement, speculations were in the air for months that the lawmaker was pondering a run for the Senate.
Although he has previously dismissed the reports, sources say the former ruling party’s lawmaker decision to go into a different direction may have been pivotal to his decision.
It is also unclear whether Snowe would remain an independent, join the other parties in the CPP or switch to the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change.
And with Lassana pledging his support to Snowe coupled with the lawmaker’s already fast growing political influence, the former Montserrado County lawmaker is rated as one of the major frontrunners in the upcoming senatorial election.
