Monrovia — Top officials of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), a constituent member of the Coalition for Democratic Change, have hinted they are ending their political marriage with the coalition and have no plan to renew.
"We said we have tried everything now. Let's form a coalition where we will maintain our political identity and cooperate between and amongst other political parties, we tried that also. We see the results. We won the democratic process, but did not win the favor of the collaborators to excel to the level that we wanted," said Chief Cyril Allen, chairman emeritus of the NPP at the opening of the party's refurbished national headquarters in Congo Town.
In 2016, the NPP and the Liberia People's Democratic Party (LPDP) formed an alliance with the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) called the Coalition for Democratic Change, or the "Grand Coalition." The coalition fielded then Senators George Weah and Jewel Howard Taylor as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively. Together, they won the presidential election in 2017. After six years in power, they narrowly lost to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and VP Jeremiah Kpan Koung.
Now, as the coalition agreement phases out, two of the constituent parties have indicated they are no longer interested in staying or renewing. The NPP complained that the party's interest was not prioritized. Chief Cyril Allen challenged the NPP partisans to now revamp the party into a formidable force to become electable again.
He said: "We wanted our partisans in senior decision-making positions to be able to demonstrate to the people that we are interested in their wellbeing, but we did not have that opportunity. Now, we have learned that. [The] NPP has to go to another political level. A new political dispensation. That level is not to degenerate into supporting an existing political structure, it has to advance in creating a more sophisticated political structure that will win the democracy election in the future."
The party chairman emeritus, delivering a special message on behalf of ex-president Charles Taylor, called on the party to mend their differences and extended an open invitation to founding partisans who left the party." According to Chief Allen, he recently spoke with former President Taylor who is currently serving a 50-year sentence in a UK prison for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone. Chief Allen said Taylor was passionate about the future of the NPP.
"He said Cyril, politics is dynamic. If they give you the chance to speak, tell them I say that the party must be open to all partisans... Make that recommendation as Chairman of the advisory board that we have an open arm to Edwin [Snowe], to Jimmy [James Barney] if they want to come. Please let them come back and join the fray. Our party will be supported. Gbehzohngar (Senator Findley) you are welcome," Chief Cyril Allen said while delivering the message on behalf of ex-president Charles Taylor.
Also speaking, the NPP, immediate past Chairman James Barney, Senator of Maryland County, said the NPP was not given any cabinet post during the Coalition government. Senator Barney said the NPP, through its executive committee, decided to support Amb. Boakai in 2023 because he was the best option, adding that Liberia, under President George Weah, was heading in the wrong direction. He said it is now time to leave the Coalition and rally around the current leadership of the party to make the right decision.
"The conversation must change. NPP has a role to play. And we can't be subservient. We must leave the coalition and be an independent party again. When we decided to join the Unity Party, it was done by the executive chairman, so that the party must decide. It is important that we give support to the current leaders of the party," Senator Barney said.
"We have struggled to bring the party back. And it's like every time we take a step forward, we take another step back. This time, we must stand firm. Let us remember that the party's strength is its democratic tenants. We must be guided by this golden democratic principle."
Current Chairman George Mulbah thanked the partisans for the support and called on every partisan to put aside their individual differences and build a stronger and united party.
Delivering the keynote address, Bobby Livingstone, "imminent partisan," said the NPP has a huge potential of making a significant political comeback if it sets the right priorities and puts its house in order. The first step, he said, is to reconcile.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. NPP stalwarts need to return to their party. The saying is true that nowhere is like home. Wherever you are as an NPP partisan, no matter what you do, you are still regarded as an outsider and treated with suspicion. So come back home and help to rebuild the broken walls of your party. NPP Is the only party where you will not be alienated and treated as an outsider," he said.
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Cllr. Livingstone called on the NPP to terminate its marriage with the CDC, saying "In a relationship, if your partner does not respect or regard you, that partner does not value the relationship, you must quit that relationship."
Livingstone was appointed to a cabinet post by President Boakai, but the appointment was recalled. Apparently judging from his ordeal, he called on the NPP partisans to extend an olive branch to all its members and bring them back to the fold of the party not to be treated as an outsider.
He said: "The recent controversies of appointment and withdrawals have unraveled the stubborn truth that even with the best education and professional competence, it is better to have a political home than to be an outsider or a sympathizer to a political party. When the interest of an insider and that of an outsider clash, the interest of the insider will supersede that of the outsider. It is no longer time to be a backbencher or to play to political idleness."
