Though the Coalition for Democratic Change is a protagonist in the ongoing by-election taking place in Montserrado County, and the associated feud rocking the elections, it appears the party acknowledges that it has got more to lose in any national disorder than anyone else. So, even as appointing figures target them in the prevailing tense situation in the country, the party remains composed to swallow the bitter pills and play a leadership role. This must have triggered the need for a strongly worded but peace-invoking statement it has released following a violent incident in Logan Town between supporters of their representative by-election candidate, Abu Kamara and the opposition bloc candidate Telia Urey. The Analyst reports.
The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has joined many other Liberians and organizations condemning recent specter of violence taking place in the country particular the Logan Town melee in which a vehicle reportedly belonging to Ms Telia Urey, candidate on the ticket of the collaboration of opposition parties, was hit.
In a statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend, the CDC Executive Committee condemned “in the strongest possible term recent acts of violence perpetrated against candidates Abu B. Kamara of the CDC and Telia Urey of the four collaborating opposition parties”.
The CDC Executive Committee warned that such acts of violence were a threat to the peace, democracy and the economy of the country, adding, “Violence has no place in our politics, irrespective of the scale and tone of our political differences.”
“We call on partisans of the Coalition for Democratic Change and of the four collaborating political parties to refrain from violence, whether in District 15 or in future elections,” said a statement signed by Chairman Mulbah K. Morlue.
“The Committee enjoins upon all partisans of political parties the obligation to renounce violence and show restraint even when provoked by political counterparts.”
The Executive Committee noted that leaders of political parties bear the greatest onus and responsibility to ensure discipline among their respective partisans and to reduce messages of hate, anger and bitterness that tend to poison the climate of public political discourse.
The ruling party asserted that violent, vitriolic rhetoric from all sides engenders violence. The party then called on political leaders to show maturity in their respective political statements.
The CDC indicated that civil intellectual disputation, dialogue and consensus building are the traditional conduits for the conduct of electioneering and other forms of politics, thus affirming that violence has no place in these democratic processes.
The party thanked the Liberia National Police and the Ministry of Justice for launching an immediate investigation.
The CDC Executive Committee also called for the investigation to be speedy and impartial, noting that individuals who took the law in their own hands must face the full weight of the law, noting that “Liberia is a country of laws not of men.”
The statement thanked the CDC National Chairman Mulbah Morlu for reaching out to candidate Telia Urey to convey to her the party’s condemnation of violence, express regrets for the unfortunate situation she encountered.
According to the statement, Chairman Morle provided Ms Urey assurances of CDC support for speedy and impartial investigation, and to hold discussion on the path toward peaceful elections and civil political dialogue.
The CDC Executive Committee furthered hailed its National Chairman’s show of leadership as necessary to calm existing tension and to show that political rivalry in Liberian politics DOES NOT and should NEVER mean polity enmity.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee has mandated the National Chairman to broaden and sustain these engagements with national leaders of the four collaborating political parties to construct a path to peaceful national political dialogue among parties, with the aim of reducing the prevailing level of vitriol in public statements emanating from leaders of all parties.
The Party reiterated its commitment to upholding the rule of law, uprooting violence as a means of political expression and to respecting the will of the Liberian electorate as vouchsafed through their democratic votes