The Editor,
Lately the Council of Patriots have been in the local and international media highlighting the need for Pres. Weah to step down because of the failing Liberian economy. According to Henry Costa, leader of COP, “President Weah has failed to make any public statement or address the nation about the current economic hardship in the country” (https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/liberia-council-of-patriots-refuses-dialogue-with-religious-council-says-the-body-has-been-compromised/, retrieved December 29, 2019.)
Therefore the COP has said it will remain on the streets on December 30. “Costa noted that the situation faced by Liberians under the Weah-led administration is not religious or political, rather terrible human conditions. He accused religious leaders in Liberia of receiving money from Pres. Weah after a meeting last Thursday “to issue a statement to condemn our protest and to promise him that they are going to reach out to us” (Ibid).
Hence it is now clear that COP and the Liberian government may be headed for a collision, especially when in recent days government has been parading its hot water truck donated by the Turkish government during the Ellen Sirleaf administration. The Liberian government also paraded a smaller war tank and members of the Joint Security with heavy guns.
The Weah-led government needs to take a critical reflection of the People Power Revolution in the Philippine and the Arab Spring.
The People Power Revolution commonly known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986 poured over 2 million citizens in the streets of Manila, the Philippine’s capital. The citizens stayed on the streets for weeks. The EDSA Revolution accused sitting Pres. Ferdinand Marcos of regime violence and electoral fraud. Pres. Marcos was forced to step, having held power for 21 years as a dictator (https: /en.wikipedia.org/ wiki /People_Power_Revolution, retrieved December 29, 2019).
“The Arab Spring was a series of pro-democracy uprisings that enveloped several largely Muslim countries, including Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. The events in these nations generally began in the spring of 2011, which led to the name. However, the political and social impact of these popular uprisings remains significant today, years after many of them ended” (https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/arab-spring, retrieved December 29, 2019).
The COP is not just backed and supported by ordinary people. It has members in the National Legislature such Representative Yekeh Kolubah and Senator Darius Dillon. It is also alleged that some representatives and senators and government officials are also supporting COP covertly. There are also allegations that some foreign country and US-based Liberians are allegedly funding COP.
And with a counter-COP protested allegedly being funded by the government of Liberia and the counter attacks from both parties, we do not know when the COP and its members will leave the streets of Monrovia.
Hence the question “Is the George Weah’s Step Down Campaign the Start of a West African Spring or People Power Revolution?”
S. Kpanbayeazee Duworko, II
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