The Representative candidate of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) in district # 8, Montserrado County Rufus Neufville has called on incumbent lawmaker Acarous Gray to muster the courage and “move on” by conceding defeat in the just conducted October 10 presidential and legislative elections and appreciate his constituents.
By Obediah Johnson
Mr. Neufville, who represented the district at the National Legislature for several years, was defeated in the 2011 general and presidential elections by Representative Gray of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
He was among the 14 candidates who contested for the Representative seat of district 8.
Representative Gray has been claiming to have won the elections over Unity Party (UP) Representative candidate Prince Toles.
But in a statement posted on his official social media page over the week end, Mr. Neufville conceded defeat and called on Representative Gray to respect the decision of the electorates who elected him twice to represent them.
He said the CDC lawmaker should “stop fighting for government job” and make use of the private sector.
“District # 8 Prince Toles congratulations. Acarous Gray, please join me in the private sector. I’ve been here for 6 years and still strong. Stop fighting for government job. Stop playing games at National Elections Commission (NEC). We have the RESULTS. You had 12 years. Let us appreciate the people and move on”, Mr. Neufville stated.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) has tallied and officially announced about 90.36% of the votes from 75 out of the 83 polling places in district # 8.
According to the commission, Representative Gray presently has about 8,441 votes or 32.97%, while Mr. Toles of the UP has 8,368 votes or 32.58%.
However, Toles has vowed to protect the votes cast in his favor to prevent the rigging of the elections in favor of the ruling party candidate.
Despite being in the lead, Mr. Neufville and other candidates who participated in the elections have conceded and congratulated Mr. Toles, who has already started jubilating along with his supporters.
A day after the elections, defeated candidate Samuel Dean, who contested on the ticket of the Liberia Rebuilding Party (LRP) stated that though the National Elections Commission (NEC) is yet to officially declared Mr. Toles as the winner, tally sheets he obtained from his poll watchers clearly put the UP candidate in a commanding lead.
He attributed Mr. Toles lead in the elections to “the vote one, vote all” solidarity and mandate from the opposition UP.
Mr. Dean claimed that this was similar methodology which made Representative Gray to win two consecutive elections in the district.
“In elections, when you take side with the most popular institution, you stand a better chance of becoming victorious.”
Reason for defeat
He attributed his defeat in the elections to “social stigma.”
He added that with his rejection which was based on his current condition, it is now important to promote the Act that establishes the National Commission on Disabilities (NCD).
“Irrespective of the fact that I have the most intellect as evidenced in the USAID debate that was implemented by Prime FM, the people still saw an incompetent disabled in a wheel chair. Their key word was, I am a disabled. They were not interest in my output and plans.”
He observed that the electorates also never had time for his attractive social policy that could be used and quickly transformed into legislation to improve their lives.
However, Mr. Dean described his participation in the elections as a “great experience and a rewarding one.”
Voting for money
Speaking further, Mr. Dean claimed that Liberians continue to cast their votes for individuals based on financial inducement.
He stressed that this poor form of rendering political decisions continue to affect the nation and its people.
He said citizens continue to allow themselves to be “trucked” by failed politicians who have done nothing for their constituents, but were seeking re-election in the just ended elections.
Mr. Dean ascribed the defeat of Representative Gray to the “lack of participatory democracy and development.”
According to him, the incumbent lawmaker had barrage of incomplete projects, including the Camp Johnson road and City Hall Community projects in the district, because he allegedly failed to involve the people due to pitiable style of leadership.
“Even though a lot of people gravitated to him (Gray) because of the money factor, a lot of them still rejected him.”
Mr. Dean, however, congratulated Mr. Toles and vowed to work with him to ensure that the rights of persons living with disabilities are respected in Liberia.
He encouraged the UP Representative candidate to work with other like-minded colleagues, including Taa Wongbe (upon his ascendancy), to protect and promote the rights of disabled persons in Liberia.
