MONROVIA – Rumors about the Bomi County lawmaker’s departure from the CDC campaign spread like wildfire during the afternoon hours of Monday. It became banner headline news for some local media entities.
By Henry Karmo, [email protected]
On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, he broke his silence and recommitted his allegiance to the re-election bid of President George Weah, to whom he said he has dedicated his time and energy.
“On my own as an adult, I decided to support Mr. Weah with no precondition, and in my declaration, there were no preconditions. I have my own reasons for supporting him, and those reasons still stand. Whoever Mr. Weah puts on his campaign team is not my prerogative to decide.
“There may be others in the CDC who don’t believe I should be there, and it does not give them a reason to leave. If your speculation is right, I may have an option, and if there’s someone in the room who I feel I should not sit with, I will excuse them, but it does not lead me to jump ship. I remain on the campaign team.”
The Bomi County Senator refused to answer questions about his relationship with the talk show host Henry Costa, for whom it was rumored that he has left the CDC. Bomi County Senator Edwin Snowe on Monday refused to deny or confirm rumors about his self-withdrawal from the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) campaign team. Snowe is the Western region campaign chair of the Party’s campaign.
Counties making up the Western region include Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Grand Cape Mount Counties. According to sources close to the President and Senator Snowe, his decision is based on the inclusion of talk-show host Henry Costa on the CDC team.
Despite his support for the CDC, Ambassador Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party obtained the highest vote count in the three counties in the first-round elections held on October 10, 2023.
On Sunday, October 29, 2023, Mr. Costa, along with the political leader of the All-Liberian Party, Benoni Urey, and his daughter Telia Urey, announced to the country that they are now going to be one of the lead campaigners for the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the November 14 run-off election.
Urey, along with his daughter Telia and political commentator Henry Costa, led the party to an endorsement ceremony at the ALP Headquarters in Monrovia.
Disclosing his support for the re-election of President Weah, Urey said, “Mr. President, the All Liberian Party has vested significant authority in me. Today, I have been granted the privilege to inform you, Mr. President, that the All Liberian Party endorses your bid for a second term. We want to assure you that today’s endorsement is not just an ordinary one; it is an endorsement from our hearts.”
Urey had been a staunch ally of Amb. Joseph Boakai until Boakai picked Senator Jeremiah Koung of Prince Johnson’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDR) as his running mate.
Boakai’s choice for a running mate did not go down well with the Ureys and Costa, as well as other figures that supported him.
Sources familiar with the discussion informed FrontPageAfrica that Urey, who exhibited signs of disappointment, questioned Boakai about whether he was prepared to “dance with the devil” by dealing with Senators Prince Johnson and Edwin Snowe. Some say that these two senators are the excess baggage that comes with selecting Koung, as they will exert their influence on him through Koung.
“One Man, Five Votes” The defeated Sinoe County Senator also alleged that under the CDC government, elections seem to have deviated into a scenario of one man, five ballot papers, claiming that the October polls in the Southeast and other regions exposed a “troubling pattern” of election magistrates colluding with NEC Presiding Officers and Election Supervisors to manipulate vote counts in favor of CDC Presidential and Legislative candidates.
“Incidents, such as those in Districts 8 and 15 of Montserrado County, where NEC workers were arrested for criminally inflating votes for incumbent legislative candidates, were disturbingly common in the southeastern counties and other parts of the country.”