In the wake of what many considered the failure of the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) to live up to the expectation of the Liberian people, a Liberian political activist and Biomedical Scientist, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, believes that although the CPP has failed, a the formation of a new political coalition is possible.
Dr. Nyan, the International Vice Chair of National Democratic Coalition (NDC), who noted the Collaborating Political Parties has been engulfed with internal problems over the past several months as elections for the country’s 2023 general and presidential elections draws nearer, notwithstanding, added that there will be new political alignment and realignments of like-minded political parties.
In a press release issued in Monrovia over the weekend, the Liberian medical Scientist and political activist said the new political alignment and realignments would lead to a new and stronger political coalition based on principles and national interest.
“With the recent withdrawal of one of its [CPP] member parties about a week ago, Dr. Nyan recalled that the CPP has failed based on the way it was formed without foundation. He added that four opposition parties, including the former ruling party (the Unity Party) which was unseated in the 2017 elections after 12 years of rule, the Liberty Party, the All Liberian Party, and the Alternative National Congress, formed the CPP about three years ago.
He further recalled that the alliance of the CPP has been entangled with internal conflicts since its formation due to an intense fight to head its 2023 presidential ticket and controversies surrounding the authenticity of its “Framework Agreement,” a document that was intended to bind the member-parties, but was never fully implemented.
In an exclusive back-to-back interview on Focus on Liberia Hour of Politics with Ansony Sieh and the Liberian Public Radio with Alphonso Zeon Soe, the medical scientist and political activist attributed the CPP’s failure to the “lack of a uniting principle and philosophy among the member parties.
Dr. Nyan also pointed at the lack of a well-structured governing document, lack of commitment, building of personality cult instead of building the institution, and actions of freelance-politicians who have no political stability as some of the factors that contributed to the failure of the CPP.
He added, “It is unfortunate, because the Liberian people had their hopes in a united CPP that would contest the 2023 elections against the current government and its vices.”
The last several days saw the withdrawal of the All Liberian Party (ALP) from the CPP in a press release issued on 30 December 2021, while internal divisions gripped the leaders and members of the Liberty Party (LP), another member party of the CPP.
“We are hopeful that a new and stronger political coalition will be formed which will bring together parties that put Liberia’s interest first before positions or individuals,” Dr. Nyan said.
He further mentioned, “That is why the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), a social democratic political coalition, will work very hard to have like-minded political parties coming together out of this fall-out based on an agreed national program and platform to move the country forward.”
Asked whether a failed CPP is an advantage for the current president, Dr. Nyan commented that a “disintegrated CPP coupled with the current president having so much state financial resources under his command is a plus for the president.
However, he furthered that the incumbent president has to work harder for a victory, since the trend has shown that the voters seem to be more sympathetic towards former Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai at the moment as a favorable candidate.”
The NDC, a social democratic political entity, was founded in 2011. It is comprised of the New Democratic Alternative for Liberia Movement (The NEW DEAL Movement), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and other social democratic political groupings in Liberia.
The NDC holds its National Congress in the first quarter of this year 2022. This will follow the Consultative Meeting of the NDC’s North American Chapter held in Pennsylvania in November last year.
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