I ‘ll contest for President

-Weah accepts petition

Having lost two previous presidential elections, Congress for Democratic Change political leader Senator George MannehWeah, has accepted a petition from partisans to contest for the presidency in 2017.

Having heard the cries of our people, I George Manneh ‘Zayzay’ Weah, on this 28th day of April 2016 on the grounds of the CDC do hereby accept your many calls; I will contest in the general and presidential elections as a presidential candidate”, Weah told hundreds of partisans and supporters at the party headquarters Thursday in Congo Town, suburb of Monrovia.

However, he said the party remains open for political collaboration without giving any detail about ongoing talks with the Liberty Party of Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine for a possible political alliance. The CDC has persistently insisted that Weah will not contest as vice standard bearer to any politician in outcome of any future collaboration, effectively making the presidency of Liberia non-negotiateable for the party.

After he lost to Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, Weah vied as vice standard bearer to former UN envoy Cllr. Winston Tubman in 2011, and also came out unsuccessfully. He describes education under the Sirleaf administration as a mess; agriculture a wasteland; and pipe born water and electricity an illusion, adding that the CDC remains the only alternative to the current administration.

He claims a CDC-led government will address problems of education, agriculture, electricity and water as well as other social services without clearly saying how. Unlike huge turnout during past rallies at the party headquarters that brought Monrovia to a complete knockdown, CDCians’ presence at Thursday’s petitioning ceremony was not impressive. The occasion had earlier been dubbed as program for Weah’s declaration for the presidency.

Story by Jonathan Browne