Self-inflicted Opposition Battle Intensifies -Cummings Insulted, as Voters Lament Debasement -Trial suspended indefinitely due to insecurity

Despite the long-running court battles between former and current constituent members of the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), Liberians never expected to glimpse into the abyss of degradation from whence their political wagon had sunk, as when ANC political leader and acting chairman of the CPP, Alexander B. Cummings, faced an angry crowd at the grounds of the Temple of Justice during the course of last week after attending hearings into the CPP Framework document tampering allegation brought against him and others by All Liberian Party (ALP) political leader Benoni Urey and ALP chairman Theodore Momo.

Just as the media attempted engaging Mr. Cummings, an onrushing crowd of onlookers, reportedly supporters of the Unity Party and ALP, started hurling invectives against the ANC political leaders, calling him “rogue, thief” and other unsavory epithets.

Postings of the rebel-like encounter, gleefully and allegedly circulated by Unity Party stalwarts, flooded social media platforms in Liberia and the Diaspora, and provided fodder for lampooning from the ruling establishment, as well as criticisms from the public.

A stalwart of the former ruling Unity Party, was one of those that immediately posted the podcast on his Facebook wall with the cryptic comment: “Cummings finished! #Greed#”

But other Liberians, taking serious exception with Mr. Cummings’ denigration as depicted in the podcast, were angry over the downward spiral of the opposition camp.

“Look at what they are doing. When we flog them again in 2023, they will be crying that they were cheated. But we’re waiting for them,” says Siafa Manobah, self-proclaimed diehard CDCian of Brewerville, VOA Junction.

As for Stephen Mulbah who commented under the podcast, Liberia politics is only about disrespecting leaders. “I think this falls below the red line. Young people should raise the argument above the fray. Pay today to disrespect and dash us tomorrow. Let’s try to read between the lines,” Mulbah cautioned the youth.

Meanwhile, political pundits who monitored the fluid situation involving the uncivilized hurling of invectives against Mr. Alexander Cummings pinned the fracas on supporters of the Unity Party.

As they conjectured, Mr. Cummings had appeared on numerous occasions at the Temple of Justice for hearing into the document tampering case without the occurrence of such unruly behavior.

 “Why is it that, all of a sudden, the crowd started to insult Cummings only on the day that Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai appeared as a state witness against his opposition counterpart?” a concerned political pundit wondered.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the unruly behavior meted against Mr. Cummings last week, coupled with the attendant insecurity surrounding the case, Monrovia City Court Magistrate Jomah Jallah has announced the indefinite suspension of the “forgery and criminal conspiracy” trial involving Alternative National Congress (ANC) Political Leader Alexander Cummings and others due to alleged insecurity at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.

State Prosecutors, led by Solicitor General Syrenius Cephus, on Tuesday, May 10, requested the postponement, praying that it would allow the government to step up security and provide additional police for crowd control at the Temple of Justice. The request to step up security is likely to include the screening and to reduce the number of political parties supporters attending the trial which has entered the fifth month without any significant progress.

ANC supporters gathered in the hundreds at the court on Tuesday to support their leaders and to prevent the recurrence of last week’s attempted assault on their Political Leader allegedly by Unity Party partisans of former Vice President Joseph Boakai.

ANC defense lawyers vehemently rejected the postponement as false alarm by State Prosecutors, saying it was part of the continuous prosecution ploy to delay and baffle the trial, due to lack of tangible evidence to warrant prosecution.

ANC Political Leader, Mr. Cummings, National Chairman and Gbarpolu Senator Daniel Naatehn, and Secretary General Counsellor Aloysius Toe are being tried for alleged alterations of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) framework document. The three accused ANC stalwarts have adamantly denied the charges and described the protracted trial as bogus and politically motivated by the All Liberian Party of Mr. Benoni Urey to thwart Mr. Cummings Presidential bid in 2023.

The forgery and criminal conspiracy charge is a misdemeanor, and according to Liberian Law, should be tried and dispensed within 30 days by the Magisterial Court. The trial which started January 3, 2022 has entered the fifth month without delving into the merit of the charges.

Considering other options to salvage his reputation, Mr. Cummings has hired a London based internationally reputable law firm, headed by the former British Prime Minister’s wife, Chiere Blair, along with Alaco, a leading business intelligence and investigations firm, based in London and operating globally, to conduct an independent forensic investigation into the CPP framework document alteration accusation. It is not yet established what legal impact the Chiere Blair investigation could have on the trial.