– EFFL Brands Voters Who Will Re-Elect Pres. Weah in 2023; -Says Weah ‘A Misfit and a Bad Product of Democracy’
IPNEWS: The Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL), a political pressure group, that is transitioning into a political party with the aim to contest for seats in the Presidential and Legislative elections in 2023 has cautioned Liberians not to repeat the mistakes of 2017 when they overwhelmingly elected a football icon to lead their nation out of ignorance.
According to the EFFL, in 2017 Liberians out of good fate and political will chose to give Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) standard bearer, George Weah, an opportunity to lead a country has been restored to international parity by the government of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, with the hope that the CDC led by Mr. Weah would have built on the foundation built by Mrs. Sirleaf and take Liberia to another level.
But within five years, the CDC government has reportedly reversed and still reversing the gains and dividends its predecessor made to take Liberia from a failed and rogue state to a level accepted internationally by its global partners.
The EFFL, conned after its South Africa counterpart, the Economic Freedom Fighters, headed by the South Africa politician and activist Julius Malema, has been in the vanguard to put the feet to fire of the George Weah-led government since its ascendency in 2017. The EFFL has collaborated with other local Liberian civil society groups, political pressure groups; advocacy and activism groups, students, women and youth groups to mount pressure on state actors to do the right thing for the development and growth of the nation.
And so on Monday, October 10, 2022 at a press conference called to inform the Liberian people and the international community that its quest to transition from a political pressure group to a full fledge political party, has been denied by the National Elections Commission (NEC) ahead of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections, the Commander-in-Chief (CIC) of the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia EFFL), Emmanuel Gonquoi warned Liberians that those who will choose to support the second-term bid of President Weah will be considered as ‘Murderers of the State.’
The EFFL C-I-C said on Monday in a press statement that their proposed political party has been denied the opportunity to be granted a certificate as a full fledge political party by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
EFFL C-I-C Gonquoi said his institution is of the belief that President George Weah is the mastermind for the denial of their EFFL to be granted a certificate as full fledge political party despite meeting requirements set aside by the Liberian election’s laws: “Anyone who will support George Weah Presidential Bid in 2023 can be equated to a murderer.’ He noted with the present economic situation in the country any Liberian who will support the re-election bid of the President will be aiding to murder the state and finish it totally.
The tough-talking EFFL C-I-C used the occasion to call on the opposition bloc to join forces to democratically oust the CDC-led government of President Weah in 2023 if Liberia is to be saved and restored to a developing nation.
“To our friends in the opposition, we ask for unity in defeating George Weah because the only legacy we will boast of after 2023 is seeing George Weah as a former president – and not just as a former president, but a former president going to jail for looting our nation along with his gang of corrupt vampires to build mansions overnight and support their reckless and flamboyant lifestyles,” Gonquoi said.
C-I-C Gonquoi then accused and reiterated the Weah Government of being the mastermind behind the NEC’s refusal to certify his organization to operate as a political party.
“We are broken because a misfit and a bad product of democracy called President George Weah and his miscreants of officials, who have zero democratic credentials are unimaginably engaged into every unconventional ventures to injure our political future by infringing on our inalienable rights through their cunning refusal to grant the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia its constitutional right to get registered as a full-fledged political party in Liberia,” he stated.
He averred the process has unfortunately been stalled by some unpatriotic men and women sitting in very sensitive government positions, including the NEC.
“We want to make it publicly known that our strategy to have slowed down political pressure and pursue the registration of our movement as a political party has unfortunately not paid off. We were of the thinking that this would have helped in our pursuit of legally transitioning from just being a pressure group to a legitimate political party.
“But it’s now clear to us that the Government led by this soccer player is intentionally and nefariously so too, interfering with our registration process at NEC and preventing the national electoral body from granting us a certificate of registration as a political party, even though our nationality as Liberians, is undisputed, and therefore, owning and/or registering a political party is our constitutional entitlement,” Gonquoi indicated.
He called on the International Community, especially the United States of America to intervene in pressuring President Weah to grant the EFFL permit to operate as a full fledge political party.
Recently when addressing the 2022 United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States of America, President Weah boasted that his government has no political prisoners in jail, nor has the government imprisoned journalists or any other Liberian for freedom of expression.
But with the accusation from the EFFL that President Weah has allegedly undermined the certification of the EFFL to a full fledge political party ahead of the 2023 presidential and legislative elections, leaves political pundits to wonder whether the Liberia was sincere in his statement to the UNGA.
Reportedly denying a group of Liberians to opportunity to form a political institution for their common interest to contest in a pending electoral process is indeed a human rights violation, political pundits told IPNEWS. Additional reporting the Editor
See below EFFL full statement regarding the reported denial of certification of their proposed political party.
-Members of the Central Revolutionary Council of the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL), fellow fighters of redemption, fellow citizens and members of the mass media.
“We have called you here today with a broken heart but yet revolutionarily spirited because we still believe in a brighter future for our people and our beloved country, Liberia.
We are broken because of a misfit and a bad product of democracy called President George Weah and his miscreants of officials, who have zero democratic credentials are unimaginably engaged in every unconventional venture to injure our political future by infringing on our inalienable rights through their cunning refusal to grant the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia its constitutional right to get registered as a full-fledged political party in Liberia.
We will firstly begin by apologizing to Liberians who honestly desire to hear from us every time on major issues but have not heard from us for a long time now due to our resolve to focus on the registration process of the EFFL as a political party a process that has unfortunately been stalled by some unpatriotic men and women sitting in very sensitive government positions, with some even being at the National Elections Commission (NEC).
We want to make it publicly known that our strategy to have slowed down political pressure and pursue the registration of our movement as a political party has unfortunately not paid off.
Lowering the political the pressure was intentional because judging from experience; we were of the thinking that this would have helped in our pursuit of legally transitioning from just being a pressure group to a legitimate political party. But it’s now clear to us that the Government led by this soccer dolt is intentionally and nefariously so too, interfering with our registration process at NEC and preventing the national electoral body from granting us a certificate of registration as a political party, even though our nationality as Liberians, is undisputed, and therefore, owning and/or registering a political party is our constitutional entitlement.
Fellow citizens, we are fully aware that by slowing down our political pressure, we lost many supporters and admirers, but as our people normally say; “your one hand cannot be in the mouth of the leopard and you use the other hand to slap the leopard.”
In this case, we would have not been mounting political the pressure which includes criticizing this bad government that can be equated to a leopard, while at the same time believing that it would have easily allowed us to be certificated as a political party.
Therefore, we were using a political strategy that would have ensured the speedy certification of the EFFL as a political party. Sadly, a leopard is always a leopard, and the beast in it will come out whether offended or not.
So, we are now convinced that this Government is not interested in playing to the rules, as well as to respect the tenet of democracy which guarantees multiparty democracy, and as such, is on a dastardly campaign to disallow our certification.
Simply because President George Weah and his officials are aware of our ground game, which is primarily to retire him as a one-term president, the retired footballer hence, they are unwilling to certificate the EFFL as a political party, though we have met every requirement and done all there are to be done within the ambit of the laws of Liberia to be registered as a political party.
We want to let you know, fellow Liberians that we are reliably informed by impeachable sources, some even within the corridors of the NEC that officials of the NEC is under straight instruction from President George Weah not to certify the EFFL.
Hence, those responsible at the NEC to certificate the EFFL, have embarked upon delay tactics toward our registration process, and although they have on numerous occasions set dates to certificate the party, those dates have all come and gone without the Commission issuing the EFFL its certificate of registration, while it has done so for other parties we were even ahead of for registration.
Fellow Liberians, like George Weah and his officials, did in the case of Punch FM, until the Supreme Court quite recently ruled in favor of the radio station charging this the kleptocratic regime of the violation of the constitutional rights of the owners of Punch FM, so is it doing with our registration process? It has dawned on us, fellow Liberians that Weah and his gang of lawless operatives are opposed to every individual and an institution that is a critical voice in the vanguard of the liberation struggle to emancipate Liberia and Liberians from this failed regime and debauched leadership of the former soccer player.
Fellow citizens, many would say why another political party when the country already has a lot more others. But let the word go forth that our compatriots, who fought with their blood and sweat, while others were even martyred for multipart, did not do so in vain. They did so that other patriotic Liberians like us could legally pursue the right route in keeping trailblazing and not succumbing to enemies of democracy such as autocratic George Weah and his cronies who continue to desecrate the political governance of our country since their five years plus reign.
Hence, the EFFL embarked upon this journey to aggressively pursue political party status because we subscribe to the Pan-African liberation struggle and envisage creating a home for the a new generation of progressives, here in Liberia; a home where social justice and equality, coupled with the rule of law will be respected and adhered to; a home where those at the helm of political power will never again at the detriment of the majority of the suffering citizenry, amass wealth overnight; a home where no more will those who cried for being oppressed yesterday suddenly become oppressors of the people as soon as they assume state power; a home where heartless men would no more be allowed to preside over the governance of our sweet land of liberty, bashing in stolen wealth looted from state coffers, while the majority of Liberians to whom the national cake rightfully belong to wallow in abject poverty, even with the recent unfolding agonizingly and shamefully showing that our mothers are being subjected to fence climbing, with others leaving the comfort of their homes as early as 4 AM, while others pass the night in the open in front of rice stores just to buy a half bag of rice for themselves and their families to survive. Fellow Liberians, our resolve to transition the EFFL from a pressure group to a political party should in no way be misconstrued that other hand civil society organizations or the media are not adequately tackling the vices such as bad governance and rampant corruption plaguing our nation on the watch of a retired a footballer who completely lacks the basic understanding of how the president of a the nation should conduct itself and the state of affairs of the nation.”
