Former Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), David M. Farhat, has frowned on opposition politicians who are in constant habit of boycotting national events whenever they are invited.
Farhat, however, stressed that boycotting national events in the name of politicking only points to the lack of patriotism, which is the daunting challenge the country is faced with from those wanting to lead.
He stated that President George Weah does not own Liberia, but rather, Liberians do. Though there might not be much to celebrate, but with God’s blessing, the country is safe, noting that something has to bring Liberians to their knees, whether they like the leader or not.
Farhat said Liberians should speak out on national issues whenever their leader does something wrong, instead of skipping national events whenever they are invited, as this does not speak well of the opposition blocs.
His comments were in reference to President George Weah’s accusation on Sunday, July 23, during the thanksgiving and intercessory service held at the Philadelphia Central Church in Monrovia that the opposition blocs continue to boycott national events, whenever they are invited.
He said the opposition bloc feel once it is not them, then it should not be anybody else, because they claim to know better than those who are in authority, but it does not work in such form and manner.
The President went further that this year’s National Independence Day Celebration was neither the first nor the last, and despite the opposition blocs’ absence and behavior, government is making strides with its developmental agenda.
Continuing, the Former Minister urged Liberians to treat the country as a collective property and not the president’s. “The country has to progress and that can only happen when Liberians come together on a united front and not by division that continues to becloud the opposition blocs in the country; this does not augur well,” he noted.
Farhat then commended government for selecting a traditional chief as the National Orator, the first of its kind in over 200 years of the country’s existence, since 1822 up to present.
Notably, during the commemoration, the opposition blocs were conspicuously absent from all activities marking the National Independence Day Celebration of the country, which went into motion last Friday, July 21, in Monrovia.
They were absent from the thanksgiving and intercessory service held at Black Gina Mosque into Jacob Town, on the Japanese Freeway, likewise the Saturday, July 22 sporting day, held at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville.
The progressives of the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) and Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) did the same to the True Whig Party (TWP) regime, then led by the late President William Richard Tolbert, in the 1970s.
The same was between the National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) of the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe, and the opposition blocs that included the Liberia Action Party (LAP), Unity Party (UP), Liberia Unification Party (LUP), Liberian People’s Party (LPP) and the United People’s Party (UPP) in the 1980s.
Also, it happened between the then governing National Patriotic Party (NPP) of detained President, Charles Taylor, and the opposition blocs of Unity Party (UP), All Liberian Coalition Party (ALCOP), National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), the New Democratic Alternative Movement of Liberia (New Deal Movement), Liberia Unification Party (LUP), and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), amongst others.
