Where’re the crowds?

The national vice chairman for administration for the opposition party Movement for Economic Empowerment or MOVEE, is questioning political parties that pulled crowd during the political campaign period here ahead of Elections Day on October 10 to prove whether those were loyal and genuine crowds.

Mr. Dan Saryee notes that Liberian politics especially, campaign exercises, have been reduced to crowd-pulling in the streets of Monrovia and other parts of the country as though those self-proclaim followers seen in the streets during rallies are actually sincere to demonstrate their loyalty at the ballot box.

During the campaign period, the governing Unity Party, the Coalition for Democratic Change, the Alternative National Congress and the Liberty Party trooped hundreds of thousands of Liberians in the streets, believed to be their supporters, partisans, followers and sympathizers, but results coming from the polls proved otherwise except for the Unity Party and the Coalition for Democratic Change based on NEC’s results that are set to make it to the presidential run-off next month.

Despite the UP and the CDC heading for a run-off election, the ruling party obtains minimum votes in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, but tops Lofa County, home of its Standard Bearer, Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai..

Vice President Boakai was endorsed by 19 senators and 33 Representatives of the Liberian Legislature, including 13 of the 15 political sub-divisions of the country, but results from NEC is not showing spread votes capturing speed for the VP.

The Liberty Party that pulled one of the biggest crowds during the campaign period is now complaining of alleged fraud, vowing to seek legal redress before the Supreme Court.

Vice chairman Saryee further notes that crowding the streets with people is not the best strategy in preaching change to the Liberian people, adding that it’s an economic waste.

He argues that his party – MOVEE did not launch any formal political rally during the entire campaign process because it is not just economic waste but such style is not helpful in telling electorate what a party intends to achieve if it took state power.

According to him, Liberia deserves better then trooping citizens and the results shown so far speaks volume, which is a warning of next electioneering process.

“We did not launch or put people in the streets because, we have another better way of campaigning by engaging the people in their communities and homes. Those you see in the streets are from communities and homes, so, the best approach is personal engagement with the people,” he explains.

MOVEE Standard Bearer, ex-bank governor Dr. Joseph Mills Jones and his running mate Baptist prelate, Dr. Samuel B. Reeves narrowly obtain 12,270 or 0.8 percent of the total votes counted so far, as released by the National Elections Commission.

By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor-Editing by Jonathan Browne