July 17 Protest Is Politics Of Hypocrisy, Dishonesty -LPP Distances Itself, Says Organizers Created Current Conditions

MONROVIA – Political commentators say July 17 is expected to be a rude awakening – an awakening from what they say is the continued snoring by the current ruling establishment on the vexing issues of insecurity, economic retrogression, and governance miscarriage. While most opposition political parties and politicians are expected to join civil society in this demonstration, the Liberian People’s Party has reacted differently, as THE ANALYST reports.

The Liberian People’s Party (LPP) wishes to categorically distance itself from the planned July 17, 2025 protest organized by STAND, a pro-CDC civil society organization headed by the immediate past Chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), a former ruling party.

LPP said in a release that while it recognized the right of citizens to peacefully assemble and express dissatisfaction with the hardships currently confronting Liberians, marked by economic instability, poor governance, lack of accountability, and a weakening of the rule of law under the Boakai-Koung administration, it is uninclined to align itself with forces that bear equal responsibility for the suffering of the Liberian people.

The LPP, one of the oldest political parties in the country, observed that from 2006 to 2018, it was the Unity Party (UP) that presided over massive corruption, accentuated by institutionalization of legislative bribery, patronage, impunity, and the hollowing out of public institutions.

“That broken foundation was not only preserved but perfected and deepened by the CDC administration from 2018 to 2024, under whose watch public accountability all but collapsed,” it said. “STAND’s leadership, drawn directly from the CDC’s highest ranks, is therefore not positioned to credibly lead a protest against problems that their own governance greatly contributed to.”

According to the party, the former ruling CDC had the opportunity to find solutions to the problems that it wants to protest against, but deliberately refused to do so.

For example, the street sellers were in the street chased by the police under the CDC, the zogoes, were in the streets, there was mass unemployment, the health and educational facilities were in poor state, Liberia was among the ten poorest countries in the world, but lawmakers, ministers and other top officials of government were receiving salaries and benefits higher than in rich countries like the United States, United Kingdom and others.

The president under the CDC traveled in private jets and had long convoys and government did not listen to the complaints of the people. Why should any sound person listen to CDC, when it did the same thing that is happening today?

LPP has thus stated its refusal to be part of a protest movement orchestrated by those who along with the UP have derailed Liberia’s progress.

“We will not be used to legitimize a political drama between two sides of the same coin—the CDC and UP—who have both betrayed the public trust,” said the party, adding that the Liberian People’s Party is different.

“Our record stands on integrity, independence, and an unwavering commitment to building a new Liberia based on the rule of law, accountability, justice, and anti-corruption reform. We remain the only viable alternative to the cyclical failures of both UP and CDC. LPP is clear. CDC has no credibility to protest against bad governance,” the party further noted.

“We therefore call on all LPP partisans, supporters, and sympathizers across Liberia and in the diaspora to stay away from the July 17 protest. Do not be deceived by old actors in new costumes. Liberia needs transformation, not theatrics.”

The LPP urged fellow Liberians to channel their energy into organizing, creating awareness, and mobilizing for the kind of systemic change that LPP represents—a change that will not come from protests led by yesterday’s enemy of progress.

“Let it be known: LPP sympathizes with the suffering of the people and stands with them, but not with pretenders,” asserted the party in a release signed by its Chairman, J. Yanqui Zaza.