Defeated candidate asks US to refrain from Liberian politics

Defeated Montserrado County electoral district # 8 representative candidate Mr. Jacob Barnes is urging the United States through its embassy near Monrovia to refrain from the body politics of Liberia. “I think the United States should disengage from our body politics as a nation, because they are the father of modern democracy, they must not meddle into our affairs,” Mr. Barnes said on Thursday, 16 November when he appeared on Prime Fm in Monrovia.

The defeated representative candidate claims that the recent statement released by the US Embassy was intended to undermine the collective efforts made by every political leader that committed themselves to peaceful election.

He argues that the US Embassy’s statement is undermining the democratic process of the country. According to him, one of the main issues that led Liberians to experience the 14 years of civil war was due to people who did not believe in the justice system but decided to run into the bushes and take guns to fight back.

At the same time Mr. Barnes says after carrying on a critical analysis on the two presidential candidates that are due to go for the runoff election, he thinks it is prudent to support ruling Unity Party (UP’s) candidate Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai instead of opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) candidate Sen. George Manneh Weah.

Mr. Barnes notes that the CDC Standard Bearer lacks the competence to steer the affairs of the country, saying “I don’t believe in George Weah because he lacks the competence to adequately handle the affairs of this country.” “Though I’m not a UP partisan, but my decision to support the vice president in the runoff election is based on his ideas, competence. He’s such a man with vision, he knows where this country is heading,” says Mr. Barnes .

According to him, he voted for opposition Alternative National Congress (ANC) during the first round of election because he felt that Mr. Alexander B. Cummings was someone that brought much on the table. But he says he will support Mr. Boakai since Mr. Cummings did not make it to the runoff.

By Lewis S. Teh–Edited by Winston W. Parley