MONROVIA – Though young Charlyne M. Brumskine was passive politically—at least so she tactfully acted—when her father was then in full charge of the opposition Liberty Party, she appears to be one person feeling the pinch of the disintegration of this once potent political institution. In the last two years or so following the passing of her father, the Founding Political Father, and the subsequent paralysis in which the party now lies, the youthful Counselor at Law has been working behind the scene to ensure that those who took over from her dad acted responsibly to salvage the party. It seems all efforts are not holding at all and she’s now entertaining the fear that reconciliation amongst protagonist is farfetched. The Analyst reports.
Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, daughter of the late Charles Walker Brumskine, is not happy at all about the nosedive the Liberty Party has taken given all the time and resources which her father had invested to sustain the party over the years.
Despite efforts made by several admirers of the late Brumskine and the Liberty Party to bring “warring factions” to the table, every day comes with the bad news of further sinking, and it seems Ms. Brumskine growing nearly hopeless.
In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 in Grand Bassa County via a local radio station in Buchanan City, where she is expected to contest the 2023 legislative elections in District #3, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine weighed in on the devastating path her dad’s party has taken in recent months.
With regards to the current Liberty Party crisis, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine dishearteningly disclosed that she is upset that the party for which her late father struggled and risked everything to maintain and strengthen, is torn part as a result of power struggle between two groups of people who are fighting.
He lamented: “What do we do now? What should the people do now? I have talked to my big sister; yesterday, I was in a meeting with Jacob Smith and other people; they know quite well how I feel about the reconciliation of the Liberty Party. I don’t want to dash anyone’s hope, but I almost feel at this juncture, reconciliation is not going to happen. Maybe, it will happen after 2023. Maybe what some of us are hoping for is how we get the party to the legislative branch.”
Cllr. Brumskine continued: “One of the main reasons why CDC became powerful before they got to power is that CDC had so many members of their party in the legislature. But many people who are aspiring are confused about this whole Liberty Party ticket business. What LP should be doing right now is helping to focus on the legislative aspirants. How can we build our people up, instead of us continuing to wrangle?”
The acclaimed lawyer further disclosed that as of December 2021, she spoke of reconciliation and suggested the constitution of a council of elders of founding members of the Liberty Party, but her suggestion fell on deaf ear.
“I didn’t hear anything about the proposal. One side called and said they were willing to do it; the other side did not. There was one side that was not happy for me calling for reconciliation. I don’t see reconciliation happening right now. It is heartbreaking,” Charlyne asserted further.
When asked which of the two factions of the party she would use to pitch her tent in contesting the representative seat in Grand Bassa County, Cllr Brumskine said it was unfortunate that she could be asked such question which should not have arisen being the daughter of the founder and first standard-bearer of the party.
“I get emotional thinking about this all the time,” she said during the community radio interview.
“There are people like Byron Brown; people from our county who went to jail for Liberty Party. There were women who were stripped naked for Liberty Party. I can’t tell you what happened to people like Byron Brown. The Bassa People’s party, I am not saying it is only for the Bassa people, but they gave birth to this party. For me to go independent because of what? Because somebody is saying it is Musa Bility’s party? It is not for Musa Bility. The party is not for Bility. The party is not only for Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence. She is a big sister, my father left her in charge of this party, so many of us are in this thing together. You can’t bring down the party to two individuals.”
Facially groggy with emotions, Charlyne managed to say further: “For someone to tell me, ‘Charles Brumskine’s daughter should leave the party and go independent’. How do I look at my mum and say that? How do I tell the old Bassa women that always say LP is our party? How do I do that now? I pray that there will be reconciliation soon. Let me conclude and I think this message is going to go far and wide; people will receive it for their own benefit, as I want to be clear on this: I will abide by the law when we get the final word”.
NEC and Liberty Party
With regards to suggestions that the National Elections Commission is interfering into the internal affairs of the Liberty Party, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine said she was utterly disgusted by the interview that NEC Commissioner Davidetta Lansanah recently granted.
He said: “The commissioner of NEC had an interview the other day. I felt that she caused more confusion, she raised more questions, and I think she needs to be careful before she goes on the media. She must understand that lives are at stake here. What she did was cause for chaos. If NEC is given its mandate to govern inter party affairs, they need to do it properly, in an organized fashion – disseminate the information to the public, so the public knows what’s happening in the Liberty Party.”
As relating to the Liberty Party being split right in the middle, with one side supporting the CPP and the other side supporting Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakai of the former ruling Unity Party, Charlyne acknowledged that every democracy must have strong institutions.
The youthful lawyer said: “But when we begin to have a one-party state, that’s the beginning of the end of democracy. George Weah, the CDC government should want strong institutions. If we do not come together as opposition, not only will the ruling administration be successful or have a high probability of being successful, but then we are eroding and breaking down institutions.”
According to Charlyne, one year after her father passed, there was a move within the Liberty Party to change the structure and revamp the constitution, to which she was opposed.
“I was opposed to it not because I have a personal problem, but because we had just elected a leadership structure. A political body, a corporate body must be governed properly. If you had elections one year prior, there is no reason to change the governance structure,” she noted, while admitting that she will abide by the rule of law.
“I will go with the Liberty Party wherever the law says,” Charlyne stated.
Comments are closed.