Unity Party national chairman Amin Modad, says the party’s intent to have endorsed former vice president Joseph Nyumah Boakai as standard bearer to contest for the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) presidential ticket was genuine with the hope of further strengthening the internal relationships amongst the collaborating Political Leaders.
In a letter addressed to the political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, just a day after Mr. Cummings criticized the endorsement, Chairman Modad says contrary to the ANC leader’s view, the program went extremely well in accordance with the mandate of the UP National Executive Committee.
He says the NEC’s decision leading to the affirmation of Ambassador Boakai was not only democratic, but an inherent duty of the party to make consistent with its constitution which empowers the NEC to make decisions in the recess of national convention.
Modad argues that Ambassador Boakai was duly elected as Standard Bearer for the Unity Party for six years and this period has not expired, noting “How much more democratic, inclusive, and accountable could the process have been, than the unanimous vote of confidence received by the entire NEC?”
Mr. Cummings turned down an invitation from the Unity Party to attend the endorsement of its political leader on grounds that the action was outside of the Framework Agreement of the Collaborating Political Parties that groups the UP, ANC, LP, and the ALP.
Addressing a news conference Monday, September 13, 2021, in Monrovia, he justified his boycott of the endorsement by saying a wrong is a wrong regardless who commits it, including himself.
He argued that the actions of the Unity Party risk undermining what has been agreed upon collectively under the CPP framework, and that, actions of a constituent-member party cannot be said to be internal, as they now sit under one umbrella.
The ANC leader also reminded that when they agreed to act as one in the CPP, it was also an affirmation to be publicly judged, noting the undemocratic action of one member-party, in violation of the core values and guiding principles of the CPP, its own constitution and NEC Guidelines casts a broader aspersion on the CPP and reflects poorly on every constituent party of the Collaboration.
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“Recognizing and correcting a wrong is not weakness. It is an attribute of leadership and is honorable. Doubling down on wrongs is dishonorable and a product of undemocratic leadership. Where there is an insistence on not correcting our collective mistake, but to continue to proceed wrongly, in spite of clear violations of our laws, I will not be part of it”, he explained, and stressed that the CPP owes the Liberian people an obligation to do things differently; to be better than the current Weah administration.
But Modad says while his letter sent to the ANC leader is not the appropriate medium to counter all the concerns expressed by Cummings, he believes the UP has set the stage for all other constituent parties within the CPP fielding presidential aspirants to follow in compliance with the CPP Guiding Principles he (Cummings) referred to.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/cummings-shuns-boakai/
