[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]

Liberia newsPolitics News

We’re all going separate ways: Boakai declares end of CPP

By Lewis S Teh

The chairperson of the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) and standard bearer of the Unity Party Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai says the CPP has ceased to exist, as he pulls his UP out to go its separate way, ahead of pending presidential and legislative elections in 2023.

“Fellow Liberians, partisans, supporters, we appreciate your desire to see a unified CPP, We are grateful for your massive support of our candidates in the December 8, 2020, Special Senatorial election. Let me assure you that all is not lost, Liberia will be redeemed, but we all are going Separate Ways, God is in control”, Amb. Boakai announced here Wednesday, February 16, 2022, at the UP new headquarters on Broad Street in Monrovia.


According to him, upon his ascendency to the rotational chairmanship of the CPP, he has held consultations with eminent persons, religious leaders, his colleagues in the CPP, and sought legal opinions on a way forward but none of those efforts yielded favorable results. 

The former Vice President continues that political disagreements are usually resolved through negotiations or consensus, noting “Our willingness to continue a CPP depended largely on our honest interactions and cooperation. Sadly, as of now, we see no way forward and so we have all decided to go our separate ways.”

He says many supporters expressed disappointment over persistent wrangling within the CPP that has led to its final disintegration but encourages them to not despair, adding that though the CPP did not work out, the Unity Party is collaborating with other political parties and individuals to build a more formidable force that would face President Weah at the ballot box in 2023. 

“This we can assure you that your hopes and the hopes of all Liberians will be restored”, he promises.

He explains that following so much demand from supporters, partisans, the leadership, and even the Executive Committee of the Unity Party, the UP has finally resolved to withdraw from the CPP. 

However, he concedes the CPP, once touted as a beacon of hope for Liberia, was embroiled in seemingly ceaseless internal wrangling, something, he notes, is not only disheartening but equally disappointing that has distracted the four constituent parties from their responsibilities to the Liberian people. 

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]

The Unity Party took over the rotational leadership of the CPP on October 15th, 2021, which made it exactly half the period of its tenure on Tuesday, 15 February 2022.

Boakai maintains he took over the CPP leadership with a good feeling of an opportunity to reconcile the already fractured collaboration and repair relations over the alleged altered framework document, as claimed by Mr. Benoni Urey, political leader of the All Liberian Party, who first jumped the boat and dragged a fellow constituent member, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings to court for alleged alteration. Mr. Cummings, who has denied the allegation, is leader of the Alternative National Congress.

According to him, he personally attended all previous leadership turnovers, events, and meetings of the CPP in a show of support for every leadership and the desire to work together, including campaigning with his colleagues, saying “You would also recall that during the turnover to me, all but the ANC leader and members attended, even though I had called Mr. Cummings personally the day before, and he responded by saying he was already in the United States to attend a meeting.”

He details that the first meeting could not hold because the ANC refused to attend, and that under CPP rules, the absence of a single party from the four constituent parties constitutes no quorum because there must be at least a member from each Party to constitute a quorum to conduct business.

“The excuse then was that there was no agenda and no framework document to cause a meeting, even though a citation was sent way beforehand”, he continues. 

He says the only meeting to have been held on December 2, 2021, ended in an uproar, and it was there and then that he asked for an exclusive meeting with the three other political leaders to discuss and proffer a way forward for the CPP.  

He notes that during that meeting on December 6, 2021, the leader of ALP Mr. Urey, asked his colleague of the ANC, Mr. Cummings, to accept responsibility for the altered Framework Document as a way forward because the alleged alteration occurred during his leadership.

The former Vice President went on to say that Mr. Urey proposed[a meeting] in order to bring the stalemate to a close, but Mr. Cummings refused and instead, proposed another committee as a response to his (Boakai’s) request for a way forward.  He says when that meeting was scheduled, Cummings again sent an excuse that he was due to leave for the United States.

On the question of a trip to Ghana, Mr. Boakai explains the much-talked-about trip to Ghana was a further manifestation of his pursuit to reconcile the CPP, noting the exacerbation of the conflict in the Liberty Party on the day of his return to Liberia further deepened the conflict within the CPP.

He notes that the internal wrangling within the CPP began when a constituent member – the All Liberian Party of Mr. Urey accused and drag to court Mr. Cummings  for allegedly altering the framework documents of the CPP, something the ANC political leader denied, which  led to the subsequent withdrawal of the ALP from the collaboration.

According to Chairman Boakai, his withdrawal from the CPP clearly signifies and indicates that the Collaboration has fallen, and that they can no longer continue the journey of making the CDC-led government a one-term leadership.

Liberian political history has proved for the past one decade that no single party can win first round at the poll. It has always been in run-off when parties form alliances to pull strength.

The dissolution of the CPP, as pronounced by Chairman Boakai has weakened the opposition bloc in putting out a strong fight against President Weah’s governing Coalition for Democratic Change in the pending elections next year.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/ex-sen-ballout-cpp-errs-in-handling-cummings-over-to-government/

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=2] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=3] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=4] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=5] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=6]

NewDawn

The New Dawn is Liberia’s Truly Independent Newspaper Published by Searchlight Communications Inc. Established on November 16, 2009, with its first hard copy publication on January 22, 2010. The office is located on UN Drive in Monrovia Liberia. The New Dawn is bilingual (both English & French).
Back to top button