Monrovia – Montserrado County newly inducted Senator, Abe Darius Dillon of Liberty Party, has lambasted President George Weah, among other things laying blame squarely at the feet of the president for being responsible for the recent wave of violence that the country has been engulfed by.
Senator Dillon, who made these assertions Monday when he hosted his maiden press conference in his new office at the Capitol Building, frowned on the recent post-election violence in Montserrado County District-15, terming same as being totally unacceptable, while stressing that it will not go unnoticed or unpunished.
“The people will act. The people want result. The people want to know who’s responsible!” Dillon emphasized.
On Saturday, a bloody clash sparked up in District-15, allegedly involving supporters of ruling party candidate Abu Kamara and opposition candidate Telia Urey, in the just-ended Representative by-election in which a rerun in six precincts have been ordered by the National Elections Commission, over charges of electoral fraud filed and proven by Ms. Urey.
“Over the weekend, Telia Urey, the representative candidate of the four collaborating parties, would have died along with some of our supporters, had it not been for the grace of God and some good citizens, who came to their safety – even though, there were some injuries,” said Dillon, who is of the opinion that the only person that should be held liable for the Saturday’s melee including few other recent violent incidents in the country is President Weah, stating that the president is a divisive, bitter and petit individual, who he said needs to grow up.
“We keep saying that President Weah is not president of CDC for the satisfaction of few CDCians. I hope he can realize that he’s president of Liberia and for all Liberians, home and abroad. And we are calling on the President to wake up,” Dillon stressed.
He condemned the Saturday’s violence clash, calling on President Weah, who he described as the father of the violence clashes taking place in Liberia and the pacesetter for the violent actions of his supporters, to begin to exercise leadership over the country.
“Telia will not sit down with President Weah”
Dillon disclosed that in the wake of the Saturday’s fracas in District-15, President Weah is proposing a dialogue between Abu ad Telia, which will be presided over by the President, but the Montserrado senator was quick to note that he would impress upon Ms. Telia not to attend any meeting with the Liberian leader.
“The President is calling for dialogue between Telia and Abu Kamara – he’s asking for a sit-down meeting with them. I would think Telia should not attend that dialogue meeting, until Presient George Weah retracts openly, that childish, reckless and unthoughtful statement he made against Telia that as long as he’s president and his name is George Weah, that she would never be elected in this country.”
“He should retract it. He put the lady’s life at harm’s way, and he put her happiness and her safety at danger with his people who don’t look back; whenever he says, they are prepared to do,” he added.
In June, while at the campaign launch of two candidates, Paulitta Wie and Abu Kamara of the ruling party in the just ended Montserrado senatorial and District-15 Representative by-elections, President Weah referred to Telia as a small girl whose family has no record of winning elections.
The President at the time called Telia’s father, who is the political leader of the All Liberian Party and also the chair for the four collaborating parties, Benoni Urey, a killer and a thief.
“I will be specific today because I came to make fuss… Benoni Urey is not associated with victory, the only thing I recall for Urey is that when he wanted to leave from UN sanction list, he came to me and I helped him make his first foreign trip,” Weah said.
“This is a man that has never won anything, he supported his brother I defeated him, get ready tightened your belts there is no way the Urey’s can win election in Montserrado County because they are wicked people. We are cockroaches but they are killers, we are cockroaches, they are thieves,” said President Weah, who averred at the time that his outburst against the Urey’s were in response to Mr. Urey who reportedly called the President’s supporters and partisans of his political party cockroaches.
At that same campaign launch, President Weah also threw jabs at at then candidate Darius Dillon now senator, mocking Dillon of being a high school dropped out, indicating that he too was challenged in like manner 12 years ago.
“The only thing I know about Dillon is that he stole Documents from Snowe when he once served him as special Assistant. If you questioned me 12 years ago for my education background then Dillon does not deserve your vote,” Weah maintained.
He continued: “Tell Dillon to go back to school, let justice be done to all men; what was not allowed for me should not be allowed for Dillon.”
“Weah is not God”
Howbeit, Dillon, who says he has forgiven President Weah for comments he (Weah) made against him (Dillon), reiterated that he would advice Telia not to attend President Weah’s call for dialogue, until the President personally and publicly retracts his statement that he made against Telia Urey.
“President Weah needs to understand that he is the father of the violence that is happening in this country. He is the instigator-in-chief, and he is the pacesetter for what his people are doing – and until he can make a statement retracting that boyish statement he made, Telia should not sit with him,” Dillon insisted.
Dillon: “As for the statement he made against me, I’ve forgiven him long time because he was not God to stop my election. The people wanted their senator in me, they have their senator, he’s no god to stop it. So God has proven that George Weah is no god for him to say people can’t be, people can’t be.”
He noted that it was completely wrong on the part of President Weah, to have said he (Dillon) and Ms. Telia could not win an election, stating that “There were people who said he can’t be president. Those persons were not God; today he’s president… the President needs to grow. He’s a big kid, he needs to grow.”
Senator Dillon vowed to speak with couple of opposition leaders including Mr. Benoni Urey, who is the chair of the collaborating parties; Mr. Alexander Cummings, political leader of the Alternative National Congress; Grand Bassa County Senator Yonblee Karnga-Lawrence, who is also political leader of Dillon’s party, the Liberty Party; and former VP Joseph Boakai, the political leader of Unity Party, to have them prevail on Ms. Telia to boycott any meeting called by the President between the opposition candidate and the ruling party’s candidate Abu.
“We will use all our little influence to bear that Telia Urey will not sit with President Weah, until George Weah retracts the statement that he made against Ms. Urey that has upped the violence in this country, because his word must come to pass – and that’s not how democracy works,” he further said.
‘Divisive politics’
Senator Dillon added that politics nowadays, in Liberia, under the watch of Weah as president, is so divisive that brothers are even afraid to talk to each other because they are not from the same political party.
“More besides”, Dillon stated that “President Weah has not had the courage to call his people out by name,” responding to a reporters question with another question, saying, “Have you ever heard George Weah as president saying anything about District-13 election violence? No – where was President Weah the day the violence took place in District-13? He was there in proximity – he was there to campaign for his candidate.”
He added: “Where was President Weah two weeks ago when the violence [against Telia] took place in District-15? Right in that very District-15, to go close Abu Kamara and Paulitta Wie campaign. He was there, they carried casket about Telia Urey, they threw stones, have you heard President Weah said a word condemning his people? No!”
“Sister cannot go to sister’s funeral because they are not from the same party – cousin can no longer visit cousin, because if the cousin is part of the government and you are in opposition and you go visit your cousin, there is a likelihood that your cousin will lose his job. For God in heaven sake, we cannot proceed like this,” said Dillon who pointed out a common ground and a final resolution needs to be found for the issues in District-15.
“Violence must stop – across the board – violence must stop, it’s hurting! It’s time to stop – and we must exercise leadership,” he stated, adding that political leaders in the country owe it to the country and their supporters to demonstrate that politics cannot divide them.
“It’s unfair to our people to give our people an impression that we are enemies – we can’t,” the new senator for Montserrado urged, while stressing that he is working with other like-minded senators to summon Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musah Dean, police Inspector General, Col. Patrick Sudue; and heads of all other relevant security agencies, for the purpose of ascertaining from them why the country is saddled by too many acts of violence in recent times.
