By Bill W. Cooper
Serious division has engulfed the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), once headed by former President George Weah, with just four months back in opposition.
The National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Liberian People’s Democratic Party (LPDP) officially announced their decision to part ways from the Coalition, describing their marriage as an embarrassment and a total setback for the country.
The Coalition was a conglomeration of three political parties -the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), the LPDP of Bomi County Senator, Alex Tyler, and NPP of George Weah’s Vice president, Jewel Howard-Taylor.
The tripartite arrangement came into being in 2016 and went on to win the 2018 Presidential election. The agreement was later renewed between the three parties for the 2023 election which they sadly lost to the Unity Party (UP) of President Joseph Boakai.
The rift between the three parties surfaced prior to and after the 2023 Presidential elections, with the NPP and LPDP accusing the CDC of failing to deliver on its agreement to ensure that all parties had a say during its governance of the state.
Prior to the election, some ranking members of the NPP and LPDP, which include Senator James Biney and Alex Tyler, among others, all left and affiliated with the UP due to some disenchantment, thus ensuring that the UP’s Standard Bearer became victorious.
Speaking during the official opening of the NPP’s newly renovated and refurbished party headquarters, NPP’s chairperson, George Mulbah, and LPDP’s Chairperson, Moses Kollie, expressed their disappointments over the CDC’s leadership and its inability to stick to agreement.
They also cited the lack of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity within the CDC as major reasons for their decision to discontinue ties with the Coalition, saying the time has come for them to recalibrate and re-strategize for the future.
“We can no longer continue to be in a marriage with the CDC because it is clear that we will not have any future if we continue to be in this marriage, and there is a need that we make a move and ensure that we come back stronger in 2029.
“All the time we have been in this marriage, it has only been more about the Congress for Democratic Change, and few people entitled to enrich themselves more than serving the people of Liberia, and as such, there will be no more business as usual,” they added.
Meanwhile, both the NPP and LPDP Chairpersons have said they will, in the coming days, issue an official statement announcing the end of their marriage with the Congress for Democratic Change.
They noted that the move will enable them recalibrate and re-strategize and ensure that their respective parties be a voice in the political dispensation of the country, unlike the past where they were marginalized.
In a related development, two former partisans of the NPP who graced the occasion have announced their decisions to come back and work with the party’s leadership, adding that the NPP will become a force to reckon with during the 2029 election.
Senator Edwin Snowe of Bomi County and Senator James Biney of Maryland County, Chairperson emeritus of the NPP, thanked the leadership of party for the tremendous work done over the years, with Snowe promising to officially announce his return in the coming weeks.
The decision of the NPP and LPDP to part ways from the Coalition seems to have complicated the already complex situation, and raised concerns about the future direction of former President Weah and his party, with some key partisans’ migration.
