MONROVIA: Amidst concerns and wide insinuations about her reasons for jettisoning her representative ambition for District #3, Grand Bassa County where she was said to have had a commanding lead to win the contest to accept the nomination as running mate to Alexander Cummings, Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties(CPP), Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine has said her decision was purely for the common good of the country since as Vice President she will have a larger space on the table to address the myriad of problems confronting the nation just as she promised that a CPP led administration will restore Liberia from further sliding into decline.
Speaking in a live interview on the OK FM yesterday, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, Cllr. Brumskine said it has come a time in the history of the country that people who are genuinely interested in helping the country out of its quagmire to forget about taking up titles for personal gratifications and seek a larger platform that will contribute to the general success of the country and its people. She said it was in that direction that she has to take a decision to abandon contesting the position of representative for District #3, Grand Bassa County, a race which she said surely was in her kitty given the overwhelming support she had garnered from the people who were yearning for a better representation and genuine change.
“We the new generation of Liberians have to come to a realization that is not just about us, about our immediate gratification, about titles. It is about transformation of our country, it is about having a seat at the table to discuss the real issues that will eradicate poverty, that will bring about prosperity and wealth that will bring about empowerment that will bring about youth being engaged.
“If it was about being a representative, I would have been but I was given a place on the table to have a wider audience and so I have to accept it for the common good of the country and not for the personal title of Charlyne Brumskine”, she said.
She further expanded on the reasons for her decision to accept the running mate slot of the CPP by vehemently dismissing the insinuation that she was given some monetary inducement by Mr. Cummings for her to accept the position after allegedly failing to have a suitable VP pick and defended her character against personal aggrandizement wherein money becomes a determining factor for some people in taking a stand.
“Number one, Mr. Cummings did not give me money, he didn’t give me a single cent to accept the VP ticket.
“Number two, I have never been moved by money. Look, in this country, if I was someone with a corrupt nature, my kind would have spoken about me. Money does not move me because I grew up in a family of people who grew in politics and wealth.
“I live in a country where people live in abject poverty, I don’t drive around in an extravagant lifestyle. I have a house in Sinkor that I built with my own money. Everything I own, I worked for it with my own sweat and money”, Charlyne discounted the insinuation that she was bribed to accept the VP pick of the CPP.
The outspoken politician said what she cannot fathom is the deliberate attempts of some people who will rather evade the critical issue of leadership in the country that has led the country backward and dwell on trivial issues such as people who want to go into leadership position in the country must have past experience in public service “though a lot of those people who are representatives and senators today did not have a traceable work history of any sort before going to government”.
“So they are talking about people must have experience in public service before going for leadership positions in this country but they have not realized that leadership or governance, especially the kind of governance that is lacking in this country goes beyond just working in government but being able to deliver wherever you work be it in public or private sector which is key to knowing if the person is best suited for the job”, she said.
She boasted of her credentials, professional background and experience in the private sector to serve in the position of Vice President or any other position in government because most of the work she has done in the private sector contributed to policy formulation and implementation in the previous regime of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“I have drafted policy documents; I have provided consultation in the legal field that has contributed to some successes in the previous administration.
“I have a broad knowledge about the economy, its relationship to the regional and global economy, I have knowledge in the rule of law and the judiciary; I have drafted legislation and debated governance issues at the highest level in this country and out of this country. So there is nothing strange I have not seen or known about governance in this country that I will have to first go into public service before vying for the position of Vice President”, she said.
When asked what she brings to the electoral quest of the CPP and governance in the country, Cllr. Brumskine said her choice as running mate has generated some excited among the women and the young people and galvanized the support base of CPP because both the women and the young people in the country see her as a voice that will speak on their behalf and will therefore go all out to campaign for the CPP victory.
“What I bring to governance? There are a lot and as I have explained earlier, a good part of my work as a private legal practitioner centered on governance. I have drafted legislation, legal documentations, policy documents and offered useful consultation for the public sector in the previous administration and there were success stories.
“One of My jobs as Vice President is to preside over the senate and direct proceedings on legislation and making laws for the country. I am already aware of some of these legislations. I have an understanding of the economy as well as from a global perspective”, she said.
When asked what she admire most on Cummings, she said “his character, he is trustworthy, he is quiet and always being critical thinking about the leadership of this country, he is intentional and direct to the cause of the country and the people”
The once representative hopeful District #3, Grand Bassa County while responding to the question how she sees the chances of the CPP with her connection in the Bassaland and President Weah enjoying similar connection with the Bassa speaking people, Cllr. Brumskine said she doesn’t always make predictions about elections but the CPP is going to go in the Bassaland just like it will go to other areas to make her case for the leadership of the country.
Speaking about the Bassaland specifically, Cllr. Brumskine said she has always respected President Weah and the office he occupies and represents but when it comes to his connection to the Bassaland, she has a doubt if truly he cares for the people and area as one of their sons.
“I think President Weah sees himself more as a Southeasterner than being a son of the Bassa people. So what is there that he has done for them? Our people are dying of sicknesses because of lack of drugs. There are no paved streets in Buchanan; there is just a single street paved that runs through the town to the Fair Ground, Bassa High School, the only government high school in Buchanan is in a deplorable condition, there is poverty and hardship all over the Bassaland and you come here to hold a thank you rally”, she said.
The daughter of the late founder and political leader of the Liberty Party, stoutly defended the decision of the Musa Hassan Bility led leadership to expel Senators Nyonblee Karngar Lawrence, Abraham Darius Dillon, Jonathan Kaipay and others from the party for anti-party activities, saying “you may have your reasons for not supporting the party but you cannot use the same reasons to destroy the party”.
“When you subscribe membership of a party, you are under obligation to promote the party , its image, philosophy and mandate as well as to protect it, but you cannot be a member to undermine it to the extent of using the name of the party to go raise the money for Unity Party or support Unity Party’s standard bearer”.
She said LP will be stronger without the expelled former party executives as the members are resolved to work together to strengthen it as well as ensuring that it remains in the collaboration under the banner of the CPP.
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