–As Senators Chide Rep. Gray’s Defiant Action on UL Campus

IPNEWS-Monrovia: According to political scientists and pundits, democracy has certain key elements which make it the most preferred form of government today. These elements include participation, accountability, conflict resolution and concern for equality and justice.

Democracy also highlights five (5) core democratic values – Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, protest, and petition are five important freedoms thereof. Democracy also pinpoints basic principles including liberty, equality and justice.

For an example, there are eight (8) tenets of democracy in America. The eight tenets of American democracy are: individualism, liberty, equality, popular sovereignty, majority rule, minority rights, limited government and separation of powers.

Liberia as a ‘step child’ of America, where it has copied almost everything there that exist within the United States Constitution, is also practicing democracy.

Democracy is a system of government, where supreme powers lies with the people. The tenet of a healthy democracy points to civic responsibility, social connectedness, individual accountability, associational membership, civic engagement, social trust, and social justice are traits that have an important role in a democratic society.

Democracy is synonymous to the tenet of good governance. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.

Also the most important rule of democracy is – The rule of law, defended by an independent judiciary, plays a crucial function by ensuring that civil and political rights and civil liberties are safe and that the equality and dignity of all citizens are not at risk.

Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. In a democracy, the final decision-making power must rest with those elected by the people. Democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.

Therefore in synopsis, Democracy is a system of government, where supreme powers lie with the people.

Rep. Acarous Gray’s Hidden Agenda behind UL’s ‘Lunch Visit’

When Montserrado County District #8 Representative, Acarous Gray announced that had planned to have lunch with students of the University of Liberia who fall within his electoral district and use the time to sensitize the need to partake in the pending Biometric Voters’ Registration exercise, initially many thought that was a brilliant idea, but when the campus-based vanguard Students Unification Party (SUP) out-rightly issued a statement that Rep. Gray would not be welcome on the UL campus due to the failure of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government to allot adequate to run the UL as required.

SUP said it will not welcome ‘corrupt’ government official on the main campuses of the UL, because these government officials are allegedly enriching themselves at the detriment of Liberians, as well as including the UL, but would want to go the very campus to showboat their ill-gotten wealth in the name of having lunch with the students and sensitizing them about the BVR exercise.

Rep Acarous Gray of Montserrado County Electoral District #8

In response, Rep. Gray said SUP has not authority to prevent him entering the UL campus, as he is a former student and former board member, as well as got students there on scholarship. He also state the UL falls within District #8 which is his constituency.

With back and forth exchanges, many stakeholders including those from Gray’s own ruling political party, Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) advised him to stay clear of the UL campus since the students were agitating, an a national leader he needed to stay above the fray and lead by example instead of being defiant. Gray said SUP should stop booing and chasing out government officials who visit the UL campuses because the place is public place for everyone.

The UL Campus Violent Mess: Did Rep. Gray’s Visit Achieve Its Objective?

With SUP standing their grounds that Rep. Gray would not be allowed on the main campuses of the UL, and the lawmaker too ignoring all pleads from his partisans and other Liberians, his visit resulted to bloody riot shown live through local television stations.

It is unthinkable what Rep. Gray was thinking when he refused to exercise leadership against agitation of university students, the very thing he did when he passed through those very walls of the UL.

Political pundits say they can understand Rep. Gray’s frustration with students booing members of his party, but the question to ask is: what did his trip achieve? The only thing that took place on that fateful Monday was stone throwing and other acts of violence.

Eventually, he had to leave the campus. “Will this stop the students from booing others who they perceive as corrupt? Of course not! The entire fiasco only showed Rep. Gray and, through him, the CDC government, as violent thugs who are incapable of using their brains to solve a conflict,” one political told a local daily after the UL melee.

Senate Weights In On UL Violent Disturbances – As Sen. Dillon Tells Rep. Gray “Booing and Cheering” are Democrat Tenets

And so when the Senate convened on Tuesday, March 11, 2023 in their Plenary, the Monday, March 12 UL violence became center of discussion. Almost all of the Senators frowned on their legislative colleagues from the House of Representatives, Montserrado County Districts 8 & 10 Representatives, Acarous Gray and Yekeh Kolubah for going on the main campuses of the UL in the midst of students’ agitation.

As for Montserrado County Senator Saah Joseph of the ruling CDC government, the action of Rep. Gray should be condemned in the highest term because he did not demonstrate leadership as he should have being a lawmaker. He also frowned on SUP and asked them to always thread peaceful means to resolve whatsoever grievances they may have.

On his part, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon also of Montserrado County, said Rep. Gray should have known that ‘boos and cheers’ are democratic doctrines that go along with democracy. He stated people boo/jeer at their leaders when they are dissatisfied with their style of governance, and cheer them when they agree with how they are governing them.

“There will always be boos and cheers, nobody can change that because that is part of the democratic tenets. The only way you won’t have people booing or cheering to show disagreement or agreement is when you have a dictatorship or despotism form of government,” Senator Dillon told Rep. Gray via the Senate Plenary.

The Montserrado County Senator noted that Rep. Gray should not have been carried away by UL students booing government officials as that is part of democracy.

Senator Dillon recalled how he was told by UL students not to the go the main campus of the university because he had disagreed with the Progressives and blamed them for issues relating to the 1979 rice riots. “I knew the students were angry with me despite be saying the truth about the progressives but I had to stay away from the UL campus to avoid chaos, that is what national leaders do for the common good of the country.”