Some Liberian politicians and political institutions are leaving no stones unturned to promote their candidates in the pending midterm senatorial elections, by hook or crook, apparently because they think the electorate will always remain gullible and carried away by party slogans instead of focusing on the real issues that concern their wellbeing. Attorney Charlyne Brumskine, daughter of the late Liberty Party founder and vision bearer Charles W. Brumskine, stating categorically that she has never, ever endorsed District #5 Representative Thomas Fallah in his quest to wrestle the Montserrado County senate seat from incumbent Abraham Darius Dillon, is cautioning the electorate of Montserrado County in particular, and Liberia in general, to focus on the real issues that concern their livelihood, instead of dwelling on the falsehood and propaganda from politicians that are meant to only benefit politicians and not the voters.
“There is a picture of me hugging Thomas Fallah making the rounds on social media. People are running with it saying I endorsed Thomas Fallah. Obviously, that’s a categorical lie. It is untrue. I did not endorse Thomas Fallah. My house is in Sinkor, I was sitting on my porch, sitting down in my little porch chair, had my little slippers on, and heard some music and noise, and I asked my driver what was the noise about, and he said there was a march. So we went outside, just being nosy, and as I stepped outside of my gate, I saw a CDC march, and Honorable Thomas Fallah was there. I know him. He is my former representative. I used to live in District No. 5; that’s where my father, the great Cllr. Brumskine’s house was. We saw each other, we embraced each other, we laughed. I said, ‘your people will put me on Facebook’. Sure enough, that’s what just happened. So I just want to be very clear that my candidate is Darius Dillon. He is the CPP candidate, he’s a member of Liberty party, of which Charles Brumskine was the founding father and vision bearer. I think that this is an opportunity for us to dialogue about politics in our country, and this idea of identity politics which we have to do away with,” Attorney Charlyne Brumskine stated clearly.
The clarification from the Liberty Party and CPP stalwart comes in the wake of a trending propaganda on social media from supporters of the ruling party who posted a photo of Atty Charlyne Brumskine and Montserrado County senatorial candidate Thomas Fallah embracing last Friday evening.
One of the captions read: “Electing Hon. Thomas Panga Fallah as senator of Montserraod County is a done deal. Charlyne M. Brumskine endorses Thomas Fallah’s Senatorial bid. The daughter of deceased Liberty party political leader and vision bearer, Charles Brumskine, gives Dillon back kick and endorses Rep. Thomas Fallah’s senatorial bid for Montserrado County.”
Reacting further to what she termed as lies and propaganda, Madam Brumskine cautioned Liberians to rather focus on what will change their living condition for the better instead of fighting to promote politicians to achieve the end to their means.
“Liberians, I want to speak to you, particularly Liberians between the ages of 18 and 40. Politics is a game. You know who loses in that game, almost all of the times? It is not the politicians. It is the people. Because right now, instead of us who are going to be the eligible voters discussing issues around our country and moving our country forward, we are engaging in propaganda about who endorsed who outside the gate. At the end of the day, what we need to be discussing is the platform of the candidates that we voting for,” Atty Brumskine averred.
She said the voters need to be discussing whether their candidates have economic platform or economic vision or agenda that will move the county forward.
“It is not just Montserrado County. We’re talking about Grand Bassa County, Nimba, Bong, Sinoe County, Grand Kru. You need to make sure your candidate is talking to you about issues around health care, about issues around women participation, and equality for women,” she said.
Continuing, Atty Brumskine said the electorates must be equally concerned about the upliftment of educational standards in the country, not only Montserrado County.
“I live in Sinkor. Why is Tubman High, the government high school, not the best high school in West Africa? Why are people not running to send their children to Tubman High? Why are we not investing in government institutions that were meant for the people?” Charlyne Brumskine wondered.
She said, these are the things that Liberians need to be talking about; not getting involved in petty politics.
“Liberians, we have to do better. You have to do better for yourselves. I have worked with young Liberians. You are some of the most talented West Africans. I always say this: we don’t have systems and opportunities, but our people are some of the best and the brightest. So instead of engaging in propaganda today, let’s make sure that we are going to vote for candidates that have our best interests at heart. And let’s stop with the unnecessary propaganda. I even spoke with Dillon. I told him, ‘you see what is on Facebook?’ He and I laughed, and he said somebody had sent it him. But he knows it’s not true. Dillon and Thomas Fallah embraced each other. If I see Thomas Fallah, I will embrace him. It does not mean that I am endorsing him. But we shouldn’t be taking about endorsements right now, we should be talking about how do we make sure that in the next ten years or 15 years, that Liberia is one of the most thriving, vibrant economies in west Africa,” she said.
“How do we make sure that our medical school, our law school are attracting candidates outside of Liberia? How do we make sure that we have people from the Diaspora coming to Liberia to give back? How do we make sure that we have slum communities that are developed, where people are rushing to go to schools in the slum communities because they have the best education, they have affordable housing, they have clean drinking water? Let’s talk about those issues. We are one people. Liberia is all we have. Let’s make sure that we do the right thing on December 8,” Brumskine candidly appealed.