Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – Businessman cum politician, Musa Hassan Bility has asserted that Abraham Darius Dillon (ADD), the senatorial candidate of four collaborating political parties, including the former ruling Unity Party (UP), Liberty Party (LP), All Liberian Party (ALP), and Alternative National Congress (ANC), is being betrayed by the UP, LP, ALP and ANC, as far as Dillon’s quest to winning the upcoming Montserrado County senatorial by-election is concerned.
Mr. Bility says with the exception of the political leaders of both the ALP and ANC, Messrs. Benoni Urey and Alexander Cummings, whom he said are making some personal moves, no combined concrete institutional effort is being exerted by the four parties to support Dillon’s campaign.
“I have the feeling that Dillon has been betrayed by the Parties. With exception of Mr. Cummings and Mr. Urey who have made some individual efforts, the efforts of collaboration is yet to be felt in this campaign,” Bility wrote on his official Facebook page Saturday.
Bility stated that as per 2017 elections statistics at the National Elections Commission (NEC), with the combined efforts of the LP, UP ANC and ALP, the governing Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) could be defeated in the senatorial election slated for 8 July, but lamented that to date, the four collaborating parties have done absolutely nothing to support the candidacies of Dillon and their other candidate, the daughter of ALP leader Benoni Urey, Telia, who is contesting in the by-election for Representative in Montserrado County electoral District-15, on the same day the senatorial by-election will be held.
Bility, a stalwart of the LP, who supported the CDC in the second round of the 2017 presidential election, bemoans what he calls the collaborating parties’ failure to place their various structures at the disposal of both Dillon and Telia.
“As a former campaign Manager for UP in Montserrado, I’m aware that UP is very very strong in Montserrado, especially in the Freeway belt. As far as I know, the Liberty party had one of the most organized campaign in 2017 and Montserrado was our best of the bests. ANC, the dark horse of 2017, performed rather brilliantly in Montserrado as well. Followed by ALP. Today, not a single one of these institutions has placed their party’s structure at the disposal of the candidates,” said Bility, adding, “The Candidates are basically running their own shows.”
Bility continued: “There are more than 1000 auxiliaries in opposition parties in Montserrado alone. Not a single one has come out to support any of these candidates.”
Expressing fear that if what he calls the fundamentals are not changed, CDC would as usual win the both by-elections in Montserrado on 8 July.
Bility intoned that if not for the Council of Patriots CoP which recently organized Liberia’s largest street protest ever, Dillon and Telia’s campaigns would have been dead on arrival.
“How can we see all these, coupled with the fact that CDC now has state power, and believe that we can win them if concrete efforts have not been made to change the outcome in Montserrado,” Bility wonders.
Bility recalls that as a close ally of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he was deeply involved in the two campaigns that made Africa and Liberia’s first democratically elected woman head of state to stay in power for more than a decade, stating that while playing his role in those campaigns that gave Sirleaf state power, couple with his involvement with LP campaign in 2017, his biggest opponent was the CDC.
“During the last 3 elections circles, I came to realize that the CDC can only be defeated by non CDCIANS. Meaning, there’s just nothing one can do to stop the ordinary cdcians from supporting CDC,” said Bility, who addsed that he discovered, with chagrin, that no political condition can affect the loyalties of partisans and supporters of the CDC and that they cannot be persuaded by any policy or the lack of same from CDC or its opponents.
“Clearly, they have decided that no matter what they will support George Manneh Weah as their leader. Pure and simple. So this is the fact and this “fundamental “ has not changed. Cdciens will come out any day and night to vote for their party no matter the quality of their candidates.”
Bility says it is more so today because the CDC leadership has informed its partisans and supporters that the very existence of their party is under threat. “So they will come out, like they did yesterday, to vote.”
He pointed out that the second reason why CDC has remained invincible in Montserrado Senatorial elections is because they have not faced a united opposition, cautioning that therefore, to defeat the CDC in the county, every major political party must come together and face them.
When this is done, Bility believes the CDC could be defeated. But he was quick to note that sadly, the politicking in Monserrado is yet to be characterized by opposition political parties and politicians forming one unity front against the CDC.
He says it’s a fundamental that has not changed so the results for elections in Montserrado will remain the same.
“Sadly, this has not happened and there’s no sign that it will happen anytime soon. This is another fundamental that has not changed. Can the 4 collaborating Political parties do this ? Yes. Will they do it ? Of course NOT,” said Bility, who insists that he stands by his statement that unless these fundamentals can change, the outcome of elections in Montserrado will not change.
