Monrovia — The political relationship between President George Manneh Weah and Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe has taken a dramatic twist following the decision taken by Senator Snowe to endorse an independent candidate over the preferred choice of the Liberian Chief Executive for the senatorial seat in the county.
In August this year, Senator Snowe accompanied President Weah to a political rally in Bomi, to among other things, unveil and endorse incumbent Senator Morris Saytumah as the candidate of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
At the campaign rally, President Weah and Senator Snowe were severely booed while requesting eligible voters to retain Senator Saytumah. The rally turned noisy when Senator Saytumah took to the podium to speak, but was prevented by the citizens.
President Weah regretted and struggled to put the situation under control.
He said: "this is not a fighting ground; we in a democratic process, we have the right and we should not be shouting if they called anyone to speak. You have your votes and you know what to do with it but do not disturb the program. I want to say that you need to have respect. If you do not have respect, then you don't need to even vote for me. I prefer for you to vote against me than to disrespect my elder."
Senator Snowe also intervened to arrest the situation when his colleague was being politically humiliated by the citizens.
"This is not the Bomi County I know. We have the President here right? Everybody will be able to speak. I am calling on you to listen to our Senator who will be joined by the President to give us a word," Senator Snowe intercepted to prevent further political humiliation of Senator Saytumah during the rally.
Senator Snowe was referring to himself, along with thousands of citizens who graced the rally when he stated that: "I know some of you here have your own interest and not supporting the President; we have to respect everybody."
Despite calls from President Weah for "true CDCians, Weahcians" and others to support and vote for Saytumah, Senator Snowe is one of those not supporting the re-election Senator Saytumah.
The pair had a flourishing relationship prior to the renegotiation of the Western Cluster agreement.
However, Senator Snowe has dumped Senator Saytumah, who also supported him to serve as a mediator for the county during the renegotiation of the Western Cluster deal.
He surreptitiously pledged his support to independent senatorial candidate Soko Dorley at a program held in Bomi over the weekend. Senator Snowe defeated Mr. Dorley during the Special Mid-Term Senatorial elections in 2020.
Since then, Mr. Dorley and his supporters have been extremely doubtful of luring the support of Senator Snowe and his supporters due to the once entrenched political rivalry and competition between the pair and their followers.
Souring political relationship?
Despite reneging to support Saytumah, Senator Snowe has consistently pledged to galvanize support and vote for President Weah in the ensuing October 10 elections.
As evidenced to this, he has been spotted on numerous campaign trails in Montserrado and other parts of the country, campaigning along with the CDC Standard Bearer, making endorsement statements and calling on others to cross over to the CDC.
However, his latest decision taken to support an independent candidate against the choice of the CDC runs contrary to his support to President Weah and the ruling party.
As a result of this, some executives of the CDC remain skeptical of Senator Snowe's support to the party and its Standard Bearer with barely few days to the elections.
The successor factor
Sometimes ago, there were rumors within the ruling party that President Weah was contemplating on selecting Senator Snowe as his successor. Though the Bomi County lawmaker has not made known his intention for the presidency, he (Snowe) has been glooming himself as the political godfather of Bomi, establishing political bases and connections both home and abroad.
The speculations of a possible successor grew when Senator Snowe was spotted on numerous foreign trips with the Liberian leader.
In early September this year, President Weah ended the speculations and rumours when he hinted that Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor would be his successor after retaining the presidency during the October 10 elections.
"Jewel has been an indispensable asset of my government who has beyond doubts that she can lead Liberia. When my second term finishes, I will have no headache because Jewel is already on the team," President Weah stated in Palala, Bong County.
Since the disclosure was made by the President, Senator Snowe has not been seen on campaign trail with the Liberian leader.
Snowe response
In a brief chat with FrontPage Africa via whatsapp on Monday, October 2, Senator Snowe disclosed that his decision to support Mr. Dorley was due to his preferment by those who supported him (Snowe) during the past elections.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"Yes, I endorsed Mr. Adama Soko Dorley for the Bomi Senate election. Soko who also supports the reelection bid of President Weah is the clear choice of my political base in Bomi and so, we decided to support him."
He pointed out that he and President Weah have never had any discussion to succeed him in 2029.
Senator Snowe maintained that he acted in the best interest of President Weah by endorsing independent candidate Dorley over CDC candidate Morris Saytumah, adding that, "the end will justify my action."
"My decision to endorse Soko wasn't abrupt. It would have done more harm to President Weah reelection if I didn't do so or if I had stayed neutral. I have absolutely no issue with President Weah naming his Vice President as his successor in 2029. In short, your information is false, baseless and misleading."
In Liberia, the keeping of political promises by politicians is rare.
Politicians most often somersault from their previous decisions to support a particular candidate or party due to the need to satisfy their perceived interests or initiate a payback.
At times, political decisions are made or reached based upon "pay-to-play" on interest-driven.
