Monrovia- The National Patriotic Party (NPP) is facing an internal leadership crisis, which has led to concern among its partisans about potential de-certification by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
By Jaheim T. Tumu- [email protected]
The internal bickering between former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and Chairman Atty. George Mulbah, which revolves around leadership legitimacy, factionalism, and adherence to the party’s constitution, has jeopardized and prevented the institution holding its seventh biennial convention to resolve the leadership crisis.
However, party’s members under the banner, ‘Concerned Partisans of the National Patriotic Party’ have called on NEC to promptly intervene and resolve the conflict in order to bring stability that would ensure the party remains a viable political institution.
Presenting the petition, the spokesperson, Daoda V. Metzger, suggested that to reach a common ground, the National Elections Commission (NEC) should convene a hearing involving former Vice President Taylor and Atty. Mulbah.
He emphasized they have exhausted effort to seek internal remedy through the elders of the party to bring the rival parties together to derive but to no avail as such the aggrieved partisans are left with no other option but to seek intervention to ensure compliance with NEC requirements and avoid the risk of de-certification.
Said Metzger, “As a result of not holding the pending 7th biennial convention to elect new corps of officers recognized by the elections commission the NPP has been unable to smoothly function to meet the guidelines and regulations as it relate to the minimum bank balance of US$10,000.00, indemnity bond of US$100,000.00 and others for which the party runs the risk of being delisted for lack of good standing with the NEC.”
It can be recalled that on July 8, 2024, the Concerned Partisans presented a resolution to the National Advisory Board of the Party, led by Cyril Allen to intervene in the crisis and mediate between the two main rivals former Vice President Taylor and Atty. Mulbah to derive a consensus on the setting up of a convention committee to plan and conduct the long overdue 7th Biennial convention of the party.
Accordingly, the Advisory Board has failed to initiate a proactive step to mitigate ongoing tension and bring both rival parties to a conference despite being assured by the Chairperson Allen to discuss, plan and organize the holding of a peaceful, transparent and unified 7th biennial convention.
“We decided that we will not sit aside and see our party being de-certificated. We presented that petition to the Advisory Council and hoped to receive at least a redress. He (Cyril Allen) has yet to do it. We see that the leadership continues to act especially when they have no tenure. Now lest you forget, there can’t be no such thing as acting chairman when his time expires. If you are a chairperson of a party, your time is over, your time is just over,” he said.
