—– As Party Announces 2023 Election Campaign Showdown Blueprint
IPNEWS: It has taken eleven years since Liberian security forces, mainly members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) stormed the grounds of the main Opposition Political Party, the Congress of Democratic Change (CDC)
On that day, Clashes and sporadic gunfire rocked part of Monrovia on the eve of a presidential election, killing at least one person after riot police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of supporters of challenger Winston Tubman.
Members of Tubman’s CDC party stated that at least three others were killed by security forces on during that bloody Monday, though this could not be confirmed. Two United Nations helicopters hovered as police and Tubman’s CDC- rock-throwing supporters clashed in sidestreets.
The Liberian police firing tear gas and live rounds later stormed the CDC headquarters before they were repelled by U.N. peacekeepers, who set up a cordon around the building.
Tension has risen in the Liberian capital ahead of the November 8 run-off between Tubman and former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Tubman called on his supporters to boycott the vote over alleged irregularities in the first round, despite international pressure on him to stand.
Violence erupted after police tried to break up a crowd of several hundred CDC supporters that had spilled onto one of Monrovia’s largest thoroughfares. Shooting then broke out and a police officer said both the police and Tubman’s supporters had fired, but it was not possible to confirm the information.
A dead body with a bullet wound to the head at Tubman’s CDC party headquarters was seen, while, several people were injured, including two police officers.
A U.N. vehicle had its windows smashed, according to a Reuters witness. At least two U.N. peacekeepers were injured, a U.N. official on the scene said. A spokesperson for the U.N., which is charged with securing the country in the wake of its civil war, said the mission was working with local authorities to “prevent any escalation of the situation.”
Johnson-Sirleaf took nearly 44 percent of the first-round vote on October 11 and has since won the backing of the third-place finisher, former warlord Prince Johnson.
Former U.N. diplomat Tubman – who took roughly 33 percent in the first round – said last week he would withdraw from the race and called for a boycott because of evidence of fraud.
But international election observers called the October 11 vote mostly free and fair, and the United States, regional bloc ECOWAS, and the African Union have all criticized Tubman’s decision to boycott the second round.
Now, in commemoration of the ‘Bloody Monday’, CDC National Chairman, Mulbah K. Morlu, stated that the Coalition of Democratic Change will observe this day on November 7, 2022.
Morlu who was excited about the turnout at a CDC rally last week told partisans and sympathizers that CDC will fully observe and commemorate November 7 this year, being the 11th anniversary of the security attack on peaceful partisans at the National Headquarters who were protesting for alleged irregularities observed during the 2011 presidential and legislative election which the party felt was shortchanged.
“It was the day we were attacked, and some people lost their lives, and some people were brutalized. So, we are going to observe and commemorate the day, we are going to remember them, we are going to remember those who have put their lives on the line for this party and the Liberian people. On that day, I want for you to turn out in full for the occasion and let us remember our brothers and sisters who have made sacrifices for this party”, he said
The national chairman who was cheered on intermittently by the huge crowd used the occasion to inform partisans about the date for the launching of President Weah’s re-election bid which he put for December 17, 2022 and foreseen a huge presence of people from all walks of life both at home and abroad.
“The President has started the need for change, and we need 6 more years for the change. Everywhere you go, you see roads, you see development, you see things that you didn’t see for more than 170 years and there are new things you see.
“There is a legacy that we must protect, there is a legacy of press freedom, there is a legacy of keeping the peace, there is a development, and these are things we are taking to our people to tell them what we have done.
“The committee is in full swing, working very hard to make December 17 a success story. We are coming out with the story, our story of a revolution that remains with us. We are going to use the story to tell the Liberian people to vote for President Weah” he said
For his part, the Chairman of the Planning Committee for the December 17, 2022, petitioning ceremony, Thomas Fallah, Representative of District #5, Montserrado County, has ordered that all Presidential Appointees in the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) report to the headquarters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) at 4 pm daily.
According to the statement issued Thursday, October 20, 2022, said all those concerned are to with immediate effect gather daily at 4 pm in their respective party T Shirts and red barites, noting that this move is geared towards preparing the party for the upcoming 2023 elections.
This latest regulation by the ruling party pondered many Liberians, especially those appointees who are from different political parties to be called in to participate in the activities of the governing party, noting that not all Presidential Appointees are members of the CDC.
Speaking some political activists on the issue, said this strategy by the governing CDC is to compel presidential appointees to form part of the CDC, or possibly rig dismissal for adhering to this call.
Meanwhile, the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), has launched its National Mobilization Blueprint for the Weah 2023 re-election bid.
The CDC stated that its project which is centered around re-electing President George Manneh Weah by commencing its mobilization and awareness exercise in the South Eastern party of the country, unarguably a very stronghold of the ruling CDC expected to begin from October 26, 2022, through the end of November 3, 2022.
CDC National Chairman, Mulbah Morlu Jr. stated that the party will leverage the commitment and enthusiasm of its partisans who over the years have created the institution and maintained it because they took ownership of it and will continue to do so because “it is the party of the people, and they must take ownership of it”
“We are the only party in Liberia that does not live on the budget of the government or being funded and supported by the national government. For everything we have in the party, it is the partisans themselves through voluntary contributions and so the dollar rally we are about to have will be depending on our members. So, we will count on you for the rally, bring the little you have, one dollar, two dollars, hundred dollars, etc”, he said.
