President George Manneh Weah’s rally call to partisans in Montserrado County last weekend’s (Saturday, July 27) to elect the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change or CDC’s candidates in the just-ended by-elections flatly fell on deaf ears, evidenced by the ruling party’s poor performance in both polls.
The once mighty CDC is desperately struggling with a narrow lead to secure a grip on Montserrado County District#15 seat, as it convincingly trails 36.95 to 53.59 percent behind the opposition Liberty Party, according to preliminary results released by the National Elections Commission in the senatorial by-election.
The CDC’s candidate in District#15 Abu Bana Kamara narrowly leads by 45.95 to 37.89 percent against Telia Urey of the opposition All Liberian Party, according to NEC.
The President recently visited Logan town in District#15, personally to close campaign rally of his party’s candidate, Abu Kamara, rallying partisans and residents to elect candidates on the CDC tickets and reminded them that Montserrado County belongs to the CDC only, no other party.
President Weah then declared Montserrado a “no-go zone” for the opposition, maintaining that those with the thought that they can beat the ruling party in the county might be joking.
“Today, you are closing your campaign; I want you to whip them. In Montserrado County, they keep testing us, and I keep telling them Montserrado is not their zone; do not come here, but because of their friskiness, we have to teach them lesson”, said the CDC Standard Bearer.
He wondered how could the opposition come into the CDC strong hold against its candidate Abu Kamara with the thought of winning, something he described as complete defiance, calling on partisans to teach the opposition bloc a lesson at the ballot box.
But his per talk proved the contrary, as results from the county seem not too favorable for the ruling establishment.
Speaking to this paper, a resident of New Kru Town in District#16, Emmanuel Togbah describes the President’s boast as mere statement, noting that the poll results contradict his (President Weah’s) assertion.
“If you claim to have absolute dominance over a particular [area] that must be shown; I think this result is a warning that he needs to go back to the drawing board to put measures in place that would save him from more embarrassment come 2023”, Emmanuel warns.
He further observes that CDCians are noted for claiming victory, saying we all saw how they were massively beaten in District# 13 by-election, even after the President supported Candidate John J. Weah, who was again beaten by an independent candidate that the ruling party subsequently claimed as one of its partisans.By Lewis S. Teh
