IPNEWS: A former stalwart of two former ruling parties, the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Unity Party (UP), says the Standard Bearer of the UP, Joseph Boakai is no match for President George Weah in the upcoming 2023 legislative and presidential elections.
Bomi County Senator Edwin Snowe speaking over the weekend on a local talk show said the just-ended rerun of the Lofa Senatorial by-election has exposed the vulnerability of the former Vice President and his ability to win the 2023 presidential elections.
The Senator believes putting former VP Boakai against incumbent president Weah is a sure first-round victory.
“The election result from Lofa County has exposed the weakness and vulnerability of Amb. Boakai of the UP. With this, I can say that President Weah will defeat him … and there will be nothing like a second round in 2023,” The Bomi Senator asserted on the talk show.
Senator Snowe, a former stalwart of the Unity Party and National Patriotic Party said he has based his calculation on the outcome of the Lofa senatorial by-election to predict an election victory for incumbent President George Weah’s second term bid in the upcoming 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
Snowe argued that the UP defeat clearly shows that Boakai is no match for President Weah in the 2023 elections because it paves the way for a first-round victory for the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
The Bomi Senator also asserted that the Lofa election result also shows that the CDC is really working because it wants to maintain power. He suggested that the opposition needs to be serious and a united force to win President Weah.
He noted that in 2020, the Liberian people-built trust in the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP). But he said when the CPP disintegrated, it scared people politically and made them have no alternative but President Weah.
Additionally, Snowe suggested that Alternative National Congress (ANC) political leader Mr. Alexander B. Cummings is much more organized than Mr. Boakai. He said Mr. Cummings has been able to exert more force in the opposition.
ANC standard bearer Alex Cummings – Senator Snowe says he is more organized and exertive politically
He warned that if Boakai goes alone in 2023, he will be defeated in the first round, while Mr. Cummings and Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe would be fighting to win as well.
“Somebody who is beating my time in politics nowadays is Presidential Affairs Minister Nathaniel McGill. He is a war room strategist all by himself and he directs and puts his guys to work in Lofa,” Snowe noted.
“And from all indications, they are going to put more in Lofa, as they are doing, and UP will have no space and other counties will be marginalized.”
Senator Snowe made a revelation that “Bomi, Cape Mount and Gbarpolu will no longer speak as counties, but as a region.”
In a related development, Liberty Party former Chairman Ben Sanvee also speaking on the show, said the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) was the greater danger to President Weah, but it has since been divided through the court system.
“The opposition spent the last six months fighting and going to court and testifying against each other. The hate is too much in the opposition and the UP is not even willing to reconcile with ANC,” he noted.
Most Unity Party partisans are of the notion and belief that their Standard Bearer, former Vice President Joseph Boakai is the only politician who can defeat incumbent president George Weah in the 2023 elections based on their analysis of the 2017 elections.
But after five years with just few months to the 2023 elections, political pundits believe the UP has a herculean task ahead it if it does not collaborate with other political parties to unseat President Weah. They say the political dynamics have changed; thus, the UP and other opposition parties must buckle up if they are to defeat the incumbent George Weah.
