SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2022, is expected to be recorded in history as the day Liberians from all walks of life will converge outside of the Samuel Kanyan Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville to take part in what the organizers named the ‘We Tire Suffering Rally.’
AS THE NAME suggests, the organizers think the current economic hardship under the regime of President George Weah, is becoming increasingly unbearable and that the voices of the citizenry need to be heard to remind President Weah and his CDC-led Government of their responsibility to curb the situation and make their lives better.
BUT IT SEEMS a crack has occurred in the already divided opposition over the pending political rally.
FOR SOME MEMBERS of the bloc, the planned December 17 event is not a rally, but a political campaign intended to further boost the presidential ambition of CPP’s political leader, Alexander Cummings, while the organizers maintain that it is a rally that will bring together all Liberians facing the prevailing economic hardship across the Country and are tired of suffering irrespective of their political affiliation.
NEVERTHELESS, IT IS not our business to judge, who is right or wrong under these circumstances, but as far as we do know, there is only a thin line between a rally and a political campaign.
RALLY AS IT is defined, is a large group of people, especially to show support for a particular opinion or political party, while a political campaign is an organized effort to persuade or influence voters.
IN VIEW OF the above definitions of the two words, is the planned December 17 event a rally or a political campaign?
IT IS FOR you to decipher both definitions before deciding to attend or not to attend.
There are other views, however, questioning the rationale of the planned rally.
IN THE VIEW of some Liberians and observers, economic hardship is not unique to Liberia, but also affects other nations and even existed under previous Liberian Governments and so there is no need for a rally against hardship.
OTHERS ON THE other hand, argue that while economic hardship existed under other regimes, including the immediate pasted regime of Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the situation is worst under the CDC-led Government that had promised to do exceptionally better in improving the lives of the citizens than its predecessors.
AGAIN, IT IS not our business to judge either side, but to throw the ball into your coat to make a determination on whether the planned December 17, 2022, planned event is a rally against economic hardship or a political campaign to promote Cummings’ presidential ambition, and whether the rationale is genuine or not.
