New Covenant or Political Trap -VP Koung Vows to Back Bility for Speaker Position

MONROVIA – As leadership crisis intensifies at the National Legislature, to the extent that, for the first time in the nation’s history, there are two Speakers sitting within the House of Representatives, strong signals are emerging of an internal jockeying. There appears to be a tricky drama taking place, as startling revelations are being made by Nimba County Representative Musa Hassan Bility that he has secured the backing of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung and the elders of Nimba County to have him elected if the Supreme Court calls for an election for the controversial Speaker seat, leaving pundits to wonder if this is a political trap and serious new covenants in the making. The Analyst reports.

Nimba County District #7 Representative Hassan Bility District #7, a diehard ally of embattled Speaker Koffa has made an astounding exposé to the effect that Vice President Koung to him in the presence of the majority bloc leadership and other government officials who had converged at President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s Rehab Residence to resolve the Capitol Hill crisis that he, VP Koung, had agreed to support his candidacy once the Supreme Court declared the Speaker position open for election.

“In that meeting, the Vice President said at this point, if the Speaker resigns and there is an election, I want to make it clear that Nimba County will stand behind Musa.”

According to Bility, who made the disclosure over the weekend when he served a guest on the Spoon Live Talk show, the VP said: “I want to make it clear that the elders of Nimba have informed me that if there is a speaker election, all of us will stand behind Musa, and with that, there is no way that Richard Koon will defeat Musa.”

Confirming the statement from Representative Bility, Vice President Koung made an unexpected phone call on the Spoon Live Talk and said the Nimba County lawmaker had approached him about backing his candidacy if the Supreme Court declares the speaker position open and calls for an election.

According to VP Koung, Mr. Bility also pleaded with him to speak with the elders of Nimba County for them to convince the Nimba Legislative lawmakers on the majority bloc to back his quest for the speaker position.

Koung said he even brought the issue up during their meeting at President Boakai’s Rehab residence.

“I said in that meeting that if there is an election, I will support Musa. I said that because the elders of Nimba had called me to say that Musa went to them that he wanted my support if the Court was to rule and say the floor was open for elections,” Koung narrative.

He added: “I had given my word to the elders. The elders of Nimba had called me to say that Musa had gone to them to ask me to speak to the Nimba lawmakers, there are seven of them in there, that in case the court ruled that there should be an election of a speaker, he needs the Nimba lawmakers support, and he wanted me to get involved.

“And when the elders speak to you for the county, you can’t say no.  So, I made my position clear in that room, I assured them that the seven lawmakers will vote for Musa. So far, so good, the meeting ended in deadlock. And that was it,” Vice President Koung disclosed.”

When questioned further by the panelists whether it wouldn’t seem like a betrayal to be angling for the Speaker position when Speaker Koffa is still battling the majority to adhere to the rule of law, Mr. Bility said the pro-Koffa lawmakers are rational beings who must also have their Plan B, and for this reason it is their right to ensure that the Speaker position remains with the pro-Koffa group should the embattled Speaker resign.