Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – Four collaborating opposition political parties, the former ruling Unity Party (UP); Alternative National Congress (ANC); Liberty Party (LP); and All Liberian Party (ALP), have alerted President George Weah over what the parties call lies being told about the pending protest actions slated for June.
June 7 has been designated as the start-date for series of protest actions by citizens under the banner Council of Patriots (CoP), in demand of good governance under the reign of President Weah.
The four parties have endorsed CoP’s decision to protest, declaring that not only that they will be participating in the planned protest, but that in accordance with the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, which guarantees peaceful assembly, they will also be directly involved with the planning, execution and management of all peaceful conduct and actions geared toward achieving what the UP, LP, ALP and ANC call the noble objective of drawing the attention of President Weah and his administration to issues of governance, which they say the Liberian leader’s administration has woefully ignored despite growing outcries from citizens.
On Wednesday, at a joint press conference, the parties warned President Weah that there is no need for him or anyone to fear June 7 or its aftermath.
They told the Liberian leader that the protest actions beginning June, are not intended to unseat him, informing President Weah that there are some elements telling lies in order to keep the president away from seeing what they called reality, adding that by the time he realizes that he’s being told lies about June 7, he could be well on his way to The Hague, like jailed former president Charles Taylor.
They then informed President Weah what the protest was all about, stating that June 7 is about justice being served fairly.
The political parties said while they welcome President Weah’s recent move to suspend the Deputy minister of Information Eugene Fahngon for what they called being irresponsible, they believe it would have been best were the controversial suspended deputy minister been slammed with an outright dismissal.
The parties also questioned the timing of the president’s action against Fahngon as being belated, wondering why it took President Weah so long to even suspend the controversial deputy minister, who has been sent to jail at least once and been embroiled into series of altercations with scores of Liberians over his utterances and mode of approach on national issues.
The collaborating parties also brought into question President Weah’s action to have apprehended Fahngon, who was suspended indefinitely for preaching divisive politics, but left untouched the City Mayor of Ganta in Nimbas County and the Superintendent of Grand Gedeh County, former Representative Kai Farley, for making similar utterances.
“What about the City Mayor of Ganta and the Superintendent of Grand Gedeh County, both of whom recently issued threats? Is their situation any different? Or could it be because Eugene Fahngon who previously had an issue with the Legislature has finally fallen out of favor?” The parties asked.
“We are coming together to call for Justice and Fairness. Two persons steal, they are known to have stolen, caught red-handed, but one is punished. Where then is Justice? And where is the fairness?” The parties wondered.
Unity Party, Liberty Party, All Liberian Party, and the Alternative National Congress further said: “Our Movement (the Council of Patriots) is not about any plan to unseat President Weah or his Government. That is what Senator Prince Johnson and others want you to believe. They claim to be doing all this “in defense” of the president.”
They noted that the Legislature was swift to impeach former Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh, Justice Minister Frank Dean was swift to invite Representative Yekeh Korlubah for statements deemed a threat to the peace of the country, but that Senator Prince Johnson and others who the parties believe are guilty of making utterances that are inimical to peace in Liberia are beyond reproach.
“The minister of justice cannot muster any courage to invite the senator for preaching hate from a “pulpit” in violation of the Liberian constitution,” the parties pointed out.
The collaborating parties who earlier told President Weah not to fear the June protest actions, however, informed him to rather fear his refusal to be just and stop being partisan in running the affairs of the country.
“You cannot continue to be president for the 38% that voted for you in 2017. What happened to the 62% that did not? What happened to those that did not vote for anyone at all? Are they not Liberians too?”
The parties further told President Weah that beginning June 2019, they will not rest until the Liberian leader does what he swore an oath on January 22, 2018 to do.
“Protect, defend and uphold the constitution and laws of the Republic of Liberia”. That is all we have been asking and will be asking again for you to do,” the parties said.
They are calling on President Weah to do and not to do a couple of things while he steers the ship of the state, beginning with the president restoring the country’s governance systems and best practices that they say are being destroyed under his watch.
“Stop the witch hunt. Bring inflation level under control. Remove trade barriers. Don’t reduce civil servants’ salaries even by 1%. The former administration worked hard to increase civil servants’ salaries yearly. Cut down the budget of Ministry of State by at least 50%, not your salary,” UP, LP, ANC, and ALP added.
They also want President Weah to put to stop the mudslinging from members of his administration against other Liberians, drawing the president’s attention to some undertakings of his counterpart in neighboring Sierra Leone.
“Look at what your Sierra Leonean counter-part Julius Maada Bio is doing and has achieved in short time. Be open and transparent.”
“Hold your officials accountable. Let there be fiscal discipline. Address the hardships in the country. Let the economy work again. Make your team to be serious. Stop the lip service and do what is right. Respect the Liberian constitution and laws.”
The parties informed President Weah about what they said is their plea, stating that they will come out in protest in June, and will not leave until the Liberian leader do what he’s lawfully required to do.
