COOPER JOINS PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Margibi County Senator Oscar Cooper has been petitioned by citizens from all 15 counties of Liberia to contest for the Presidency in October.

Thousands of citizens from across the country stormed the private farm of Senator Cooper’s over the weekend and presented petitions, calling on him to contest for the Presidency.

According to them, Senator Cooper is the only Liberian, who is capable of redeeming the country from ‘administrative malpractices.’

Following reading of the petitions, Sen. Cooper accepted the citizens’ requests to contest in the October elections for the Presidency, vowing to bring about change.

He said if elected President, his leadership would among others; prioritize jobs, health and education.

He emphasized that adequate attention will be given to healthcare under his leadership or else, no official of government would be allowed to seek medication abroad.

Sen. Cooper indicated that his entry into the race is a remedy to bad governance, vowing to give Liberians ownership of the economy.

“Time has come for the people to get job, time has come for our people to get quality education, time has come for Liberia to export,” he pledged.

“All petitions given us here today, I Oscar A. Cooper, Senator of Margibi County, do hereby accept your petition to contest the 2017 presidency,” he responded.

Among others, the petitioners said they preferred Senator Cooper because of his unflinching advocacy for Liberians and humanitarian gesture, always willing to come to their needs.

Senator Cooper promised to develop the private sector by creating jobs and decent living wages and building capacity of the youths thru technical skills training.

He also promised to reduce salaries, allowances and benefits of representatives, ministers and managing directors.

The Margibi County Senator said he would transform Liberia to an agro economy. “A movement promoting a sense of patriotism, pride and love of each other and country; it’s all the above and a whole lot more. It’s you, it’s me, it’s our children, it’s our responsibility, it’s our legacy. It’s a better Liberia. Our leadership aims to achieve some of its goals through two main activities, including agriculture”, he added.

In their petitions, citizens from the 15 political sub-divisions described Senator Cooper as a man with experiences from administrative to managerial, executive and legislative positions in both the public and private sectors, which have enabled him to become formidable.

“The people have lost confidence in the government’s ability to lead. A transformative approach is necessary to restore the nation’s pride in its leadership and people. Senator Cooper’s knowledge of the country’s landscape cannot be overstated and his advocacy and passion for the Liberian people is undeniable,” the petitions read.

Senator Cooper, who intends to contest as an independent candidate, noted that when a candidate runs on a party ticket, it is widely known and often practiced that if he or she is victorious, partisans must be given first preference when making government appointments irrespective of their qualifications.

Until his election into the Liberian Senate, Cooper had lived a private life, investing chain of businesses, including logging and rubber. “As an Independent Candidate, Senator Cooper is not restricted to such prejudice as in the case of political parties’ standard bearers. We believe that all Liberians, irrespective of tribal or religious affiliations are his partisans and should be afforded every opportunity to seek employment based on experience and qualifications. Senator Cooper will not be restricted to the traditional party structured protocols of making decisions or taking action based on party consensus,” the group ‘Team Cooper’ said in its statement.

Written by E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor -Editing by Jonathan Browne