Monrovia – Bomi County Senator Sando D. Johnson, a senior member of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP), which is one of three political parties making up the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), is urging members of his party to consider thinking about a possible withdrawal from the coalition. The other parties in the Coalition are the Congress for Democratic (CDC) and the Liberian People Democratic Party (LPDP) of former House Speaker Alex J. Tyler.
The three parties joined forces in 2016 for the purpose of winning the 2017 Presidential election. The NPP produced the vice standard-bearer, Jewel Howard-Taylor, while the CDC produced the standard bearer, George Manneh Weah.
In a post on social media, Senator Johnson, who is known for not hiding his feelings about issues that affect him or his constituent, stated: “National Patriotic Party, we all together MUST begin thinking about a possible withdrawal from the so-called Coalition of Democratic Change. Our future and the reputation of our generation and generations unborn of our dear party are at stick. This current ruling group that we all fought with our sweat, tears and blood to bring to power no longer regards us, but rather brands us as the Taylor people.”
According to Senator Johnson, who is NPP’s National Vice Chairman for Administration, when President George Weah and others needed them “most they pretended to us if as though we were their very good friends. After assuming to state power, he and his few friends, who where nobody in our society began to kick us around and consider us as useless people.”
The Bomi County lawmaker said this in his mind and many others are “unacceptable.” He added: “We must speak out loud and act now or else we are doomed.”
He further warned his fellow NPP partisans that in politics time and action are necessary.
NPP’s Internal Wrangling
Despite the call for NPP to pull out of the Coalition, the party itself has had its internal wrangling leading the expulsion and counter expulsion.
Delegates, who attended the “extraordinary session” of the party faction under the leadership of embattled Chairman James Biney, Saturday, December 1, 2018 unanimously voted to expel Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor from the party. VP Taylor is the Standard Bearer of the party.
Meeting in Bentol City, Montserrado County, the Biney faction also expelled Mr. John Gray, the party’s chairman. The delegates or the NPP faction that called for the Bentol meeting was heavily believed to be aligned with the President Weah against the other faction. In their final decision, they had also agreed that a communication be sent to the President, telling him to “recall” the two expelled persons, from their governmental posts.
This NPP faction said they were expelling the two because they had allegedly gone against the party’s constitution and tried to bring division within the NPP and by extension the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). “Any institution that does not respect its bylaw is bind to fail. We are more hopeful than three years ago. We are into power right now,” Biney, who and VP Taylor had been embroiled in a war of words over the leadership of the party, said.