Monrovia – The National Patriotic Party (NPP) has dispelled allegations that Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, standard bearer of the party, intends to contest the presidency in 2023 as alleged by expelled chairman James Biney.
The NPP is one of the three parties that formed the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change headed by President George Manneh Weah.
Biney who has been expelled for violating key provisions of the party by-laws and constitution said in an exclusive interview with FrontPage Africa over the weekend that the party (NPP) is engulfed in crisis because Vice President Taylor wants to remove NPP from the Coalition so that she can contest for the office of the presidency in 2023.
But speaking to journalists in the Charles Ghankay Taylor Conference Room at the Headquarters of NPP Monday, November, 12 2018 the Acting party Chairman John Gray said if the expelled chairman is sincere in his claim toward Vice President Taylor he (Biney) should have told the public long ago and not to wait until he is expelled from party.
NPP Acting Chairman said, “It is therefore ludicrous, diversionary and bold face lie to have heard Mr. Biney telling the public Vice President Taylor met with him (Biney) and expressed her desire to contest for the presidency in 2023.”
Gray continued, “Any analytical mind will conclude that Biney is making his statement with the intent of buying sympathy. We therefore call on the public not to listen to expelled Chairman Biney because he is frustrated and traumatized as a result of being nostalgic of the chairmanship.”
According to the Acting NPP Chairman, the party has learned that there is an attempt by expelled Chairman Biney Nathaniel McGill, Minister of State and Presidential Affairs to covertly recruit some partisans of the Congress for Democratic Change purporting to be NPP partisans to attend a stage-managed convention under the guidance of the expelled chairman.
The move, according to the Acting Chairman, exposes the limitation of the expelled Chairman, adding that the party has the full listing of its National Executive Committee members.
“It will therefore be foolhardy on the part of Mr. Biney to think that he along with his cohorts can mislead the public,” Gray said.
The Acting NPP Chairman also said that they (NPP) remains committed to the tripartite Coalition agreement and that the NPP will under no circumstance do anything that will undermine the unity of the Coalition.