By Vandalark R. Patricks
Managing Consultant, Campaigners for Change International

Every time we criticize the Unity Party, a key constituent within the CPP, many people get angry. For many, we should shield the Unity Party because they are in collaboration. No way. Never.

Liberians should be very mindful about the deadly intentions of the Unity Party to advance its way to power. History has reminded us that the Unity Party looted this country for 12 years, excluding the Liberian people’s senseless war planned and financed by its former standard-bearer, Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf. The guys think they are SMART. Knowing they are very unpopular; they secretly hid within the collaboration to change their names from the Unity Party to Collaborating Political Party (CPP). They have an agenda; secretly return to state power, and roll out their plans to continue the mafia-style of state looting, as they did for the past 12 years. They butt-naked and gang-raped our economy and banjoed our mineral resources at the detriment of the Liberian people.

Do they deserve forgiveness for the mass looting they carried out for 12 years? It’s a resounding no. If we cannot forgive the CDC for looting our country for just 3 years, as evidenced by the severe flogging we gave them in the just ended senatorial election, we should not forgive those balheads in the UP for looting our country for 12 years.

They are aware they cannot win elections in this country with the name “Unity Party.” Therefore, they are now acting very smart by wearing a different garment (CPP) to steal their way to state power. It is becoming increasingly clear that the UP is poised to produce the CPP’s standard-bearer, which is detrimental to our generation. Liberians need to be very careful of the criminal Unity Party. They were there before, and we saw how badly they destroy our country, despite receiving the highest investments in Liberia’s history. If we should proceed with a different strategy to develop the country free of corruption, new faces must lead. Suggesting that the UP, a criminal empire, which destroyed our country for 12 years, be allowed to seek state power, will be the worst mistake Liberians will ever make. We should not go back to captivity. If we need a change in Liberia, UP cannot provide that change.

UP BLAME GAME

I guess most of you have heard the argument that the Unity Party’s current leadership did not execute any government policy during their 12 years misrule. Therefore, the willful looting and summery executions of critical voices carried during the 12th years’ misrule of the Unity Party-led government cannot be placed on the current leadership.

Undisputedly, the current UP leadership accepted the evil of their political institution by celebrating the imprisonments of critical voices against the UP. For example, the current Secretary-General of the Unity Party, Mo Ali publicly wrote, celebrating the incarceration of people who were tough on the UP-led government for looting the country. Today, the same UP claims it had no part to play in the destruction of the country. When men and women were risking their lives to protect the country’s mineral resources that were being banjoed to foreigners at the Liberian people’s detriment, the current batch of leaders in the UP said nothing and never question the system. How come they became moral voices in the country? What makes them think we have forgotten? Liberia will experience the shock of its life if it makes the slightest mistake to allow the UP to steal its way to state power.

TIME FOR POLITICAL RESISTANCE

For some of you who are celebrating CPP, especially the DEVIL (UP), sitting right in the center of the collaboration, should rethink small. Anyone who eats with the deal is not only a devil but a minister of the devil. Here is what will happen. If we dare sit quietly and allow the UP to steal its way to state power by wearing the CPP cap, the UP’s greedy guys will hijack the government.

From historical antecedents’, no collaboration has functioned well in Liberia after they win an election. Liberians will suffer again because UP will squarely make dominant decisions. A few years ago, when UP, LUP, and LAP collaborated to win the election in 2011, we saw what happened.

Ellen and her UP boys sidelined the other parties, and when Cllr. Varney Sherman, chairman of the UP, got angry with what was happening, Ellen jailed him. When Alex Tyler differed on policy issues, they removed him as Speaker. Imperial presidency.

Currently, We observe the wahala within the Coalition for Democratic Change, a CDC, NPP, and PDP composition. The Congress for Democratic Change has hijacked power and sidelined the remaining parties within the collaboration. As you can see, the Vice President, a member of the coalition, is now having a political COVID-19 and struggling to breathe.

Suggesting The CPP is the alternative for Liberia’s redemption will be the greatest mistake we will ever make. It’s time we resist the remnants of the failed UP. We need to quarantine the devil from the CPP, or else it will infest our people with a disease that might not be cured forever. Trust me, the moment UP wins (God forbids), CPP will cease to exist, and the UP boys will immediately take over. The presidency’s winner will not be a CPP leader, but the record will show the leader is from the UP. Political parties will not also be dissolved after the election in 2023.

So, winning an election on a CPP ticket will still reflect on the party you came from. Those who recently won the election on the CPP ticket has attributed their victories to their parties. The same will happen when UP steals its way to state power by wearing the CPP garment. Be careful. Be mindful. They did it before and will do it again. While we sincerely love collaboration, but a hidden and devilish agenda should be prevented. We need alternative voices now!

WHY ALL UP SENATORS DID NOT GET RE-ELECTED?

During the CPP formation, the UP boasted of numerical strength in the Senate and House of Representatives because they had more representation in those two houses. For example, they had 8 senators in the Liberian Senate, which made them completely arrogant to think they had numerical strength over the other political parties within the collaboration. Sadly, they were all dragged in the just-ended election. The sad part is, most of them ran away to other political parties knowing the stigmas of the UP would have hunted them, but the masses were not stupid. They were recognized and severely whipped. I love my Liberian people; they know history, and that is why none of the UP Senators got re-elected.

They will never say this. All you will hear from those balheads from UP is, the CPP won more seats, but what happened to your senators, who executed all of the policies of the UP for 9 years? They boasted about their Senate’s strength when the collaboration was going on, but, sadly, they aren’t talking about it anymore. Betrayal! Crooks!

SENATE PRO-TEMPORE ELECTION

From all indications, the CPP has more representation in the Senate than any political party. As such, they have the numerical strength to produce the Senate-Protempore. But they will not. They will compromise the Liberian people’s interest, and most of the senators we voted under the banner of the CPP will take bribes and support other candidates.

Watch out! If the CPP really stands for the truth and is serious about protecting the Liberian people’s interest in the Senate, they should go with a united front. Allowing a non-member of the CPP to become the next Senate-Protempore will validate that the CPP is a compromised political institution. This is the first test of political solidarity in the best interest of the Liberian people. If any member of the CPP campaigns and votes for a non-member of the CPP during the Senate-Protempore election, Liberians should forget about it. It will only show that the guys are only interested in riding on the masses’ backs to advance their selfish agenda when they get elected.

If the CPP produces a Senate-Protempore, it will allow them to hold the Weah-led government accountable and create a level ground for unhindered debates on the plenary floor. Now is the time to make that decision, and anything short of that is a compromise, and Liberians should expect nothing significant from the CPP in the future.

GENERATIONAL MOVEMENT

For several decades now, Liberians have yearned for change, but we often compromise in the end. Nevertheless, Liberians are becoming aware of the problems that affect them and how to make the right political change. The CDC-led government and the failed UP have been tested to provide better leadership for the country, and they have failed and squandered those opportunities.

UP was punished in 2017 for the same mistakes that the CDC is making now. We need alternative voices for Liberia’s redemption. No country develops and expects change if it looks among the remnants of corruption and failed political institutions. The definition of change is to take that which is different and original from everything to achieve the desired goal. We need alternative voices to bridge gaps between the UP-CPP and CDC and provide better leadership to save our Liberia people.

Watch out for the third edition as I dissect the political complications ahead of 2023.