By Alphonso Toweh
 |
| Winston Tubman |
Winston Tubman said on Friday that he would not take part in
Liberia's planned November 8 presidential run-off vote against President
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, but the election commission said a vote would take place anyway.
Tubman, a Harvard- and Cambridge-educated lawyer who worked at the United Nations, called on supporters to take part in a peaceful protest on Saturday and to boycott the vote next week.
He also said he would not recognize any government formed as a result of the polls. But the election commission chief said nothing would stop the poll from taking place as planned.
The culmination of Liberia's second post-war poll -- which will test progress in stabilizing a nation that is rich in minerals but was crippled by years of war -- has been marred by allegations of bias at the election commission.
The previous head of the commission resigned last week after Tubman's party complained it was biased, but Tubman said problems remained at the body.
"We refuse to participate in the November 8th run-off election. We will never reward fraud and abuse of power and will never grant legitimacy to a corrupt political process," Tubman told reporters in Monrovia.
Tubman called on his CDC party supporters to don white clothes and hold a "vigil for peace and transparent elections" on Saturday before boycotting the poll next week.
"Any government coming out of the November 8 process will be one without a national mandate to govern and will not be recognized by the CDC," he added.
The regional body ECOWAS has warned that a boycott risked destabilizing Liberia and called on Tubman not to pull out of the process. Tubman flew to Nigeria for talks with ECOWAS this week but they appear to have failed.
The election commission said Tubman's boycott would have no impact on the holding of the vote.
"We are calling on all peace-loving Liberians to turn out in their numbers to come out and vote on Tuesday," election commission chief Elizabeth B. Nelson told Reuters by phone.
"Nothing will stop the elections from going ahead as planned," she added.
Liberia's war ended in 2003 and the last election was held in 2005. Confidence in the country has steadily grown and foreign mining and oil firms are preparing to pour in billions of dollars to develop resources in the West African state.
(Reporting by Alphonso Toweh; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Tim Pearce)
Everyone is a genius
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein
Drawing the line in Liberia
Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause
They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.
If Liberia must move forward ...
If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah
What do I think should be done?
The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Solving problems in the absence of war talks
As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah
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