Monrovia – Mr. Charles Walker Brumskine, the founder and political leader of the opposition Liberty Party is said to be seriously ill.
His party, through the National Executive Committee confirmed in a statement Monday that its political leader is seeking treatment abroad.
Said the statement: “The Executive Committee of Liberty Party through the office of the Political leader, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, informs its partisans, well-wishers and the general public that its former political leader and former Standard-Bearer, Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, is not well and is seeking medical treatment abroad. As the party seeks the special grace of God upon its founding father for healing, it makes a special request to all partisans and the general public to remember Cllr. Brumskine in their prayers.
“The Executive Committee of Liberty Party through the office of the Political leader, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, informs its partisans, well-wishers and the general public that its former political leader and former Standard-Bearer, Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, is not well and is seeking medical treatment abroad.”
Executive Committee, Liberty Party
Cllr. Brumskine, who has contested the Liberian presidency thrice, became politically prominent in the 1990s as an ally of former President Charles Taylor. When Taylor became President in 1997, Brumskine became President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
By 1999, however, they began feuding, and Brumskine fled 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, Brumskine campaigned for the 2005 elections, receiving nearly 14% of the vote, 6% less than the second-place candidate, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and therefore he was not able to participate in the runoff. Due to his popularity in the first round, he could have significantly influenced the run-off had he endorsed either candidate. He decided not to endorse Sirleaf or her opponent, George Manney Weah in the runoff.
Six years later, Cllr. Brumskine again contested the 2011 elections. This time, picking Bong County Senator Franklin Obed Siakor as his running mate.
In the 2017 elections, Cllr. Brumskine tallied 149,495 votes for 9.6 place putting him in third.
At the end of the 2017 presidential elections, Cllr. Brumskine led the charge, protesting the results as the Supreme Court halted preparations for the presidential run-off vote between Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai until it considers a challenge to first round results by a losing candidate who alleged fraud.
Although he was successful, many hailed his mastery of the law. He remains the senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, a leading Liberian law firm.