Partisans not tied to UP

President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf says  it is not a crime if one or two persons leave the ruling Unity Party on grounds that no one is tying partisans to remain in the party.

Mrs. Sirleaf’s comment came over the weekend during a regular live conversation with UNMIL Radio in Monrovia, when she was quizzed about prominent partisans fleeing the Unity Party or UP to join opposition parties here.

“Maybe somebody promises them big thing. If you were offered a better thing that looks good for you, will you not accept that offer?” President Sirleaf asked.

While the ruling party battles with dozens opposition parties and few coalitions in a bid to win a third term, recent political events here have witnessed some key partisans taking exit from the  UP, most recent of whom is Forestry Development Authority Managing Director Mr. Harrison Kanwea, a native of vote – rich county Nimba.

President Sirleaf whose vice president Amb. Joseph Nyumah Boakai is now heading the party ticket for the October elections has cautioned here that no one should criticize anybody for leaving the UP because it is their choice to leave or stay.

During the live radio conversation, President Sirleaf also cautioned that anyone who emerges victorious of the October presidential elections should not destroy the old things that her government will leave behind.

“Though every new president is coming on board with a new idea, something which will benefit the country, but I will advise strongly that when he takes power in 2018 [he should] build on those things that will be left behind by my administration so as to enable that government to pick up quick”, President Sirleaf said.

While expressing optimism that many politicians who are seeking the presidency will want to bring on new changes that will transform Liberia, President Sirleaf however said such changes can only be materialized when the succeeding government decides to build on the ideology of the past administration.

“I want that president to look at all the young people that [are] in government today, not to judge them because they work in Ellen government, but to judge them on the basis of what they know, what they’re capable of doing, and what they can do for this country,” she concluded.
–Editing by Winston W. Parley