“If they’re ready for Opposition Unity, we’re ready!”-Bility -says he spoke in context of hardcore realities

MONROVIA:  Following The Analyst’s Monday, July 10, 2023 publication in which the paper mainly couched its banner headline to a specific sentence attributed to a recent podcast done by Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) National Chairman Musa Hassan Bility regarding what he saw as the insincerity in the call for opposition unity by the Unity Party Alliance Team for the opposition community to concertedly strategize and unseat the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and its flagbearer President George Manneh Weah in the October 10, 2023 presidential and general elections, Mr. Bility has unequivocally clarified that his reservation about opposition unity was completely taken out of context.

Reaching out to the paper immediately after publication of its banner “Opposition Unity my Foot” headline, Chairman Bility said he had spoken within the context of the hardcore reality wherein the former ruling Unity Party, as the oldest political institution within the CPP political arrangement at the time, instead of fostering reconciliation amongst contending constituent members, instead became the main villain in the internal wrangling that threatened disintegration of the biggest opposition block. He said the call for opposition unity by the Unity Party Alliance on the cusp of the October polls is insincere, but noted among other things, “If they are ready about opposition unity, we are ready…”

In his Saturday, July 8, 2023 podcast, Chairman Bility had noted the impracticability of such a plea because the Unity Party has demonstrated insincerity towards uniting the opposition community through acts meant to destroy the very opposition community.

“You sit somewhere and say and craft all kinds of things against the CPP, then you leave from there, come and tell us about opposition unity. Opposition unity my foot. If they are ready about opposition unity, we are ready; but this nonsense they have around here, we will not even discuss it.

“You have people like Nyonblee, Dillon disrespecting the Supreme Court, disrespecting the rule of law then you want opposition unity? You cannot be talking about lawlessness and disregard to orders or decisions of the Supreme Court of the country and you talk about opposition unity. This is not what the CPP subscribes to. We believe in the rule of law and respect the decisions of our courts. We are not them”, Bility said.

Bility also took a swipe at the Unity Party for a wrong mantra of rescuing the nation, saying, “in the first place it is you that got us to where we are today”.

He said for 12 years, the former ruling party plundered the resources of the country and committed a lot of economic atrocities such as passing legislations in favor of concessionaires that did not benefit the citizens, thus denying the citizens the opportunities for better living conditions.

“You said you want to rescue the country but we want to tell you that you were there and did not allow the people to speak or stop all those concession agreements that robbed the country and its citizens. You have no records of making good laws to protect the citizens and the country, so how can you rescue the country?

“If you want to rule, you must bring your records. Your records will tell us if the people will vote for you, but you can’t use your 12 years record to win the election. What are they rescuing and why do they think the people will support them? Boakai’s 40 something years, Nyonblee’s 12 years and all those lawyers that made all those laws that did not help our people made us to be where we are today, and so they can’t rescue us”, he said.

Speaking further on the main contenders in the ensuing elections and those who stand good chances of winning the election, Bility said ordinarily the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) should have no business seeking for re-election because the party under President George Manneh Weah performed poorly and will be rewarded as such by the people.

He said the discussion about the 2023 elections should be centered around which of the opposition parties should be able to unseat Weah, and from what is trending, the CPP is poised to win the election, adding that the party will also embark on a campaign message against UP not to be given credence because the party does not mean well for the country.

“We will campaign against you; we will tell the people that you represent nothing. We will tell the people that the very thing you want to rescue the country for, it is you who took us there in the first place before you talk about rescuing.

“We will tell the people and you want to talk about opposition unity, go and sit down. You are narcissists; you talk about opposition unity, then you insult us? Are you sending former CDCians like Eugene Fahngon, to insult us? Unity Party and I have no talks. I will defeat you”, he said.

Bility also used the podcast to blast at some members of the national legislature for going against the signing of the recast budget of the government, describing them as being deceptive and using the budget issue to reinvent themselves after the blunder they made without properly looking at the financial instrument of government when it was presented to them for approval at the beginning of the fiscal year 2003.

“Didn’t you check the sources of the money before you approved the budget? Didn’t you see that the government clearly stated that there will be external sources for money in the budget? The lawmakers must not take us for a ride. They owe us a task and an explanation why they are not signing the budget when they know very well they approved what they are rejecting right now”, he said.

The CPP National Chairman who made a case for a real change in the country that will address the myriad of problems affecting the country said the solutions to these problems are not with the former ruling UP, and also not with the current leadership under President Weah, but only Alexander B. Cummings, the Standard Bearer of the CPP who can take the country out of its “darkest period”.

“We will choose a man who has lived a life as an example, who lived and worked in a competitive environment, who is agile, smart, kind, respectful and credible.

“We have someone who has the power and charisma to bring in investors to change our educational system, to make sure that concessions work for the people unlike in the past where companies like Mittal Steel that have been in Nimba for the past 20 years and there is nothing to show for it.

That only person is Alexander B. Cummings who has told us that he will not collect salaries but work for the people, setting up programs and policies to address the real problems confronting the country”, he said.

Bility further said Cummings has a mission and vision to lead the country and will direct his energy to make the country a greater and prosperous place to live as well as building a government that will respect the rights of every citizen regardless of the statuses.

“For once we have to make the decision that will change the country and secure for us a brighter future. Let us not joke with our future. We have a man in Alexander Cummings who has given us a clean record to lead this country. He has a clear understanding of where the country is and where he wants to take it for the betterment of every citizen”, Bility said.

It can be recalled that the UP Alliance in a July 5, 2023 press statement said it believes that if opposition political parties held together and collaborated on this single most important issue, the incentives for undermining the credibility and transparency of the October polls and its subsequent results will be minimized greatly.

“One of the underpinning factors of the country’s long and bloody civil conflict was fraudulent elections; elections in which the decisions of the people were overturned and their choice of leadership rejected in the most brazen manner.

“The elections are of consequence and as such, the transparency and credibility of the process must be of concern to each and every Liberian and most importantly, opposition political parties. The Unity Party Alliance alias the Rescue Mission certainly takes the transparency and credibility of the ensuing elections as its top most priority.

“The UP Alliance hopes that every opposition political party will take this as a responsibility to their partisans, supporters and to the general Liberian public. We look forward to working with each and every opposition political party on this important issue,” the UP Alliance Team stated emphatically.