Ganta, Nimba County – Long before Senator Prince Y. Johnson called a hastily arranged meeting of nearly a dozen opposition parties to his hometown county’s capital, Ganta this weekend, the consensus amongst the various political figures eyeing the Liberian presidency, was clear: that it would require a mobilized coalition of serious players to unseat the ruling Unity Party government at the polls next year.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
It is a play even the incumbent on the way out realizes; will be a necessity going down the stretch. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf told FrontPageAfrica in an interview earlier in the year:
“I don’t think any political party can win on its own giving the number of parties. So, if you see people negotiating, dialoguing, it is because that they have all realized that some coalition has to be made for a particular party or parties to be successful.”
So one by one, in the past few months, variations of calls leaning toward a coalition of some sorts, spurred ricochets of murmurs linking a plurality of candidates including the designated incumbent, Vice President Joseph Boakai to one of the opposition or vice versa.
Brumskine-Weah; Weah-Brumskine; Boakai-Weah; Boakai-Brumskine; Cummings-Weah; Weah-Cummings; Urey-Weah… And the list goes on.
Prior to this weekend’s Ganta gathering, a similar assembly gathered at the home of football legend and head of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change, Mr. George Weah.
During that meeting dubbed, a “retreat” at Mr. Weah’s Jamaica Resort located in Thinker’s Village, the likes of Mr. Benoni Urey, the political leader of the All Liberian Party; Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, political leader of the Liberty Party; Alex Tyler, Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP); Mr. Nathaniel Barnes, the Liberia Destiny Party and Rep. James Biney, chairman of the National Patriotic Party were in attendance.
PYJ’s Hometown Factors into Play
Mr. Alexander Cummings, political leader of the Alternative National Congress, was not.
In Ganta, at the weekend, Cummings and a dozen political party leaders made their way at the request of Senator Johnson who is being heavily courted by virtually all political parties including the ruling party to form part of some coalition, owing to the large pool of votes at his disposal in Nimba.
What the two gatherings, the one at Mr. Weah’s home and the one in Ganta have in common is that all parties appear leaning toward rejecting any form of merger until after the first round, a situation many analysts say is a virtual assurance of a victory for the ruling UP.
The only difference this time is that political Parties gathering in Ganta actually signed a communiqué which from all indications fell short of addressing the biggest elephant that has been the concern of many: Which political pairing will prove to be the best formula to seize the momentum and oust the ruling Unity Party from power.
Many political stakeholders and international observers were keen to see whether the gathering in Ganta would set the pace for potential parings to take shape. For example, who is most likely to go Presidential and vice presidential candidates?
It is such scenarios many Liberians and international partners were looking for but did not materialize, reminding Liberians that once again as in 1985, 1997 and 2011, opposition party leaders will fail to present a single list of candidates as was done in the most recent elections in Nigeria, that saw Muhammad Buhari defeating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.
It is a concern, Mr. Weah insinuated when he said Saturday: “When we are having such discussion, it’s good to listen to avoid sounding redundant”
“We all say the same thing but in different tones. We have been in this for more than 10 years, speaking of the ills in society and the reason why it continues is because we refused to come together [due to] our self-ego and personal aggrandizement.”
Weah spoke to what many Liberians are thinking.
And to his credit, Mr. Weah did put aside his ego in 2011, when he settled for second place to veteran diplomat, Ambassador Winston Tubman.
But 2017 is unlike to see a repeat of that humility by Mr. Weah as his party have remained consistent in declaring that they will not run as a VP candidate, despite expression of willingness to work toward forming a coalition.
Ahead of 2017, it appears none of the major contenders in Urey, Brumskine, Cummings and Johnson are willing to give up their egos to run second to Weah of CDC, a party that has gone in the second round twice in 2005 and 2011. S
o Weah and the CDC gauging from their numeric edge from the last two elections are holding on to that card.
What the Ganta communiqué did at the weekend is signal a willingness from all parties to call off their attack dogs on one another. But many are questioning the logic of a “no attack” when each party is vying to beat the other party to the second round.
A long-time observer of Liberian politics called such an agreement “untenable and fallacious.”
And so what remains to be seen is how long the pledge on paper will last amid serious strains developing in the past few weeks between the Liberty Party and the All Liberia Party which has accused the former of leaning too much with the ruling party.
Talk Show host Henry Costa, a strong supporter of businessman Benoni Urey and the ALP was quick to shoot down the gathering as a much ado about nothing:
“I regret to inform you all that the much talked-about meeting of opposition political parties in Ganta, Nimba County, was a failure,” he chimed on his Facebook page Saturday.
“Nothing was accomplished. They met, lectured, ate and drank. No goals were set, and certainly no plans to advance the conversation for a possible coalition for 2017. It is a sad day for Liberia.”
The political parties constituted a joint Technical committee comprising two representatives from each political party to work out the details and modalities for approval by the National Executive committee of their respective political parties.
Opposition political parties not signatories to the document are being encouraged and welcome to form a part of this collaborative initiative by a letter to the joint technical committee.
Blowing Caution to the wind?
The communiqué concluded: “Opposition political parties that are signatories to this declaration hereby make a seldom pledged not to castigate or denigrate each other in any manner and form.
In the event of disagreement among or between political parties the matter shall be refer to the joint technical committee for resolution.
The joint Technical committee shall report in sixty days as of the signing of this declaration given under our hands and part seal on this 17 day of September 2017 in the city of Ganta, Nimba County, Republic of Liberia.”
In failing to address the elephant at the Ganta assembly, political observers say, the opposition may have thrown away a final chance at any serious political configuration as every political party appears leaning more toward trying their luck on their own in hopes that one emerges atop a sea of the more than 22 contenders and hopefully make it to the second round, where if the communiqué stands, they could rally around one of their preferred choice.
Ironically, Boakai has emerged so far as the only contender to rally any form of commitment toward a coalition. Last week, the National Democratic Coalition (NDC) threw its weight behind the veep.
Regardless of what happens in the months leading to the 2017 elections, complications are bound to arise especially when the picture remains unclear over who will actually make it to the second round? More importantly, what happens in the event there isn’t one?
What remains clear is the fact that visible strains are still lingering in some quarters of the opposition.
A noticeable absence from last weekend’s meeting was embattled house speaker Alex Tyler’s Liberian People Democratic Party, which was miles away in Monrovia welcoming Dr. Toga McIntosh, former Minister of Foreign Affairs into their ranks.
Dr. McIntosh, who most recently served as a Vice President for ECOWAS, had initially expressed interest in vying for the Unity Party’s standard bearer position but dropped out of the race in the last hour.
He quit the UP and has been looking for a political home.
On Saturday, Dr. Mcintosh told a program organized to welcome him that he came to “join hands with other partisans at the LPDP to ensure victory in 2017.
“We are stronger together,” he told a colourful ceremony at the party’s headquarters on the Airfield. “
For me, I see my being here as the will of God”.
“Stronger together” has been a familiar theme in the days leading to the 2017 elections, but one very few of the major political figures appear willing to embrace.
Opposition Drifts as Dust Settles
As the dust settled on Ganta at the weekend, the opposition appear to be drifting further away from the realities of the unfolding stakes eclipsing the issue of the elephant in the room, the million ton of egos many believe has driven the opposition over the edge and away from a potential sacrificial play.
It is a fear Brumskine, who has been battling criticisms of being a regime collaborator, alluded to when he unapologetically sought to justify his stance on the issues:
“I say today that everything thing is on the table. We all stand to lose if none of us around this table win. Let none of us leave this room being tasked as a regime collaborator…”
Continued Brumskine: “I believe in team work and I think with a better team one idea and one vision we can liberate our people.
We can make our people happy. Let’s rethink our past decisions. We come here and reach an agreement and at the end of the day we go our separate ways.”
#But Urey appeared un-repented as he vowed to continue his no-holds-barred criticisms of the Sirleaf administration:
“It’s time to get serious, our people are dying, and they are hungry. This country is basically running itself and we are not afraid as we care about no favour.
“We will say what it is in black and white because we believe we owe it to the Liberian people.”
Continued Urey: “I believe you all have seen what I have seen—the increased death rate, the arrest of people, even journalists for something that happen [far] in another country.
The cracking down on press freedom, corruption, nepotism, favoritism these are the ills that continue to kill our people.”
For ANC Cummings, the gathering in Ganta is capable of yielding fruitful results if the parties at the table can come out with basic principles to govern heading into the elections.
“It is not a bad thing. And even if we don’t agree just getting to know each other and talking with each other is important.”
Whether that will be enough to oust the ruling Unity Party at the polls come 2017 remains to be seen.
But if history is a predictor, the failure of the opposition to agree to form a united front could put them at the receiving end of a disadvantaged equation, a daunting proposition for many entering the twilight of their political life.