Monrovia – The National Youth League of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has conceded defeat in the just-ended Montserrado County District #13 by-election.
Report by Augustine T. Tweh, [email protected]
The party at the same time congratulated independent candidate Edward P. Flomo, alias “Color Green” for being elected the new representative of the district.
“We accept the outcome of the election; nobody will expect to lose after working hard but we accept the fact that we have proven to the world, to the international community that such a democratic credentials cannot be given to any other political party in the history of this country than what have been demonstrated by the Coalition for Democratic Change. We assemble you here to send a message of congratulations to Mr. Edward P. Flomo, the newly elected representative of District #13, Montserrado County,” Emmanuel Mulbah Johnson, Secretary General of the CDC Youth League said Thursday, November 22.
He made the statement at a press conference in Monrovia.
According to Secretary General Johnson, the victory of the independent candidate is a clear indication of the kind of democracy Liberians have yearned for over the years under the Unity Party government and they never got.
“This is the democracy our young people years to years fought for under the Unity Party-led government some of whom could not make it to see this day. We believe that under the presidency of George Manneh Weah, it is so great indeed that others participated in District #13 by-election,” he noted.
Even though he praised their party of giving a democratic space to everyone and velified the Unity Party under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he deliberately chose to ignore the fact that it was during the UP reign that George Weah was first elected Senator and few years later President. In that senatorial election that Mr. Weah won, he even defeated Madam Sirleaf’s son, Robert A. Sirleaf and the UP regime didn’t temper with the results.
The CDC Youth League Secretary also denied allegations of death in the district’s Saturday bloody election riot, which fingers are pointed at his youth wing Chairman, Mr. Jefferson T. Koijee, to have been the alleged instigator.
“There wasn’t any issue of death in that part of the district. We want to say that, that couldn’t have happened under the dead Unity Party-led government. So that alone is a plus for the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change. We appreciate that unblemished credentials of democracy,” he said.