Despite its collaboration within the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which earned it the vice presidential seat, the National Patriotic Party of ex-President Charles Taylor appears to be falling apart.
Internal bickering and back biting has rocked the party with many of its officials now before the courts as the leadership crisis within the party deepens.
Currently there appears to be two factions within the Party, one headed by Mr. Taylor’s e-wife, now Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor on one hand and a former Representative of Maryland County Mr. James Binney.
Binney appears to be linked deeply with the Congress for Democratic Change, which many say is the largest constituent within the ruling coalition, as Mrs. Taylor on the other hand battles for grip over the party. There has been no convention to usher in the new hierarchy of the party, yet both camps are claiming to be in charge of the affairs of the party.
As if that has not been enough some NPP members are now leaving the party toand jumping boat to the CDC (Congress for Democratic Change), which is also a constituency within the Coalition for Democratic Change government.
On Thursday July 9, one of the controversial lady within the NPP, Vice Chair for Gender Affairs Bong County Superintendent Esther Walker announced her resignation from the NPP at a press conference where she also told journalists that she was joining the CDC.
Madam Walker explained that her interest no longer aligns with the NPP but maintains that she remains a member of the Coalition for Democratic Change by virtue of her new membership with the Congress for Democratic Change.
She argued that her decision is not based on personal issues with the Vice President as the relationship remains cordial. Reacting to this latest move, Vice President Taylor in a statement said she has accepted the resignation of Ms. Walker and expressed no reservations of her decision to leave the Party.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
“The NPP as a former ruling Party and one of the most grassroots political parties in Liberia has always survived for decades amidst the exodus of different partisans,” the statement said. However, VP Howard-Taylor was emphatic that the NPP remains a formidable force in the body politics of the state with the emergence of firebrand young people to keep the Party’s vision alive.
