Liberia: Stop Offhanded Allegations

Source: allAfrica

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES of the opposition Liberia Party (LP) and Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) issued two separate resolutions last Sunday committing their parties to further merger/consolidation talks. The resolutions, amongst other things, ordered the leaderships of the two parties to set up, each, a committee to hold talks with the other on the way forward. The resolutions gave the committees specific mandates to negotiate the terms and conditions for consolidating/merging the two parties and to draft a plan of consolidation/merger of the two parties. The committees are expected to report to their principals for formal decision on merger or coalition.


THE TWO PARTIES impressed observers when they indicated that the resolutions reflected the overwhelming majority view of the ranks-and-files of the two grassroots parties. "[We hereby] resolved that during the period from the date hereof, and until such time that a plan of consolidation/merger shall be approved by the Executive Committee of CDC, no officer of the CDC shall perform any act or make any statement, which undermines the intent and purpose of total and complete unity of the opposition beginning with the consolidation of the Liberty Party and the CDC," the CDC resolution said. The LP resolution, which surprisingly was strikingly similar in content and authority to that of CDC, also reechoed the interdiction. These developments had assured many sincere Liberians and watchers of Liberia's democratic experiment that finally, parochial ambition and the obsession with forming own parties were giving way to national interest. In the minds of these Liberians and friends of Liberia, the success of the CDC-LP consolidation efforts would encourage other political institutions to take up the merger gauntlet, which has become a test of political maturity and nationalism in Liberia's new political dispensation.

UNFORTUNATELY, NO SOONER had Liberians greeted the news of CDC-LP commitment to opposition unity than they began hearing anti-merger drumbeats and threats. We have not authenticated reports that CDC's Policy Advisor and Chairman for Recruitment, Mulbah Morlu, with the acquiescence of the LP's National Youth Wing, is orchestrating the drumbeats and threats. What we do know however is that all is not well within CDC – the leadership is up to its throat with problems as it negotiates to merge or form a coalition with LP. We know also that the majority rank-and-file members of CDC are not happy with the talks and they cannot wait to seek recourse in the courts – up to the high court. But besides that, the CDC leadership and the anti-merger group are trading blames bordering on conspiracy and bribe from the ruling UP, LP, and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. We know moreover, that both CDC and LP have not considered the extraordinary nature of the internal opposition to the merger/consolidation plan, and they are making frantic efforts to quell it by means of the conventional fear tactics and political scapegoating. For instance when it was put to them that some partisans in their parties were agitating against the merger/consolidation plans, CDC National Secretary General Lenn Eugene Nagbe and LP National Chairman Israel Akasanya summarily dismissed the dissenters as agent provocateurs of the ruling UP and its standard-bearer. They accused the agitators of receiving bribes to undermine the merger/consolidation talks – the same allegation the so-called agitators levied against them for signing Sunday's resolution of commitment. The anti-merger group is accusing LP of bribing CDC executive committee members to affirm the Accra Communiqué signed between the two parties; on the other hand, the CDC and LP leaderships are accusing UP and President Sirleaf of bribing the "boys" to reverse the 'irreversible' process.

WE SEE SO much scapegoating, buck-passing, and the making of political fair game of individuals and groups who might have absolutely nothing to do with the whole hullabaloo inside CDC – accept that they are suspecting of benefiting from any fallout. We see vain water threading for its own sake that is going to take the nation's political agenda backwards. We therefore encourage the two parties, specifically CDC, to do something about the internal rumbling. The two parties, considered the opposition front-runners, must realize that they have a leadership fault and take the necessary step to face squarely and head on the looming threats over the merge/consolidating plans. The sooner they realize that they cannot handle the internal problems by simply pointing fingers at external forces, the better they will be in the position to handle it without swaying backwards. They must deal with the genuine concerns of their ranks-and-files if they intend to go ahead with the political engagement. In democratic institutions like CDC and LP, all opinions count however unreasonable. This is why the path to chose is not to go about blaming the blamable but to design plans to speak to the consciences of the dissenting partisans – after all the votes of these individuals count heavily at the polls.
OUR POSITION HERE IS not to deny that President Sirleaf, UP, and LP's Brumskine have interest in CDC's political leaning and are likely to want to influence it. Our position is that to blame these individuals and institutions for the brouhaha inside CDC is to bring CDC's capacity and maturity as a national institution under question. It raises the question of President Sirleaf stranglehold on the opposition and the opposition's helplessness. Or is that what CDC and LP want the Liberian people to believe by their offhanded allegations? The nation is watching.