“We Didn’t Object To Jallah’s Election” -Mo Ali, Says UP Was Done With The Election, Moved On

MONROVIA – Against trending claims that the former ruling Unity Party(UP) may have opted not to challenge the election of Cllr. Joseph Kpator Jallah who was declared winner and certificated by the National Elections Commission (NEC) from the outcome of the recently held Lofa County Senatorial By election because it did not have sufficient evidence to prove its case, the party has said its reaction was not to go to court against the result but to raise concerns about how the process was held and that it is done with the case and moved on.

Speaking to The Analyst yesterday, Thursday, July 14, 2022 in an exclusive interview, the Secretary General of the Party, Mo Ali said that there was never a time the party said it was going to court to challenge the results and that such insinuation was from the making of the media who ran with the story out of their own understanding. He said the reaction of UP did not go beyond its observation and decision that the entire board of NEC should be strapped and replaced and that any other being said in the public or anywhere else was from the media.

“We didn’t say we were going to court. We raised our concerns about  how the election was conducted and called for the dissolution of the Board of the National Elections Commission(NEC). It was you the media people that ran with the story and not us. So you should find out yourself where the story is coming from. Not us”, Mo Ali responded to a question posed to him why UP was not pursuing a legal challenge to the outcome as was understood from the position statement read by the standard bearer of the party, Joseph Nyumah Boakai that the legal team of UP will be in touch with NEC soon.

When asked further why did the party call for the scrapping and replacement of the entire board of NEC for alleged irregularities and then not decide not to press on with the case in court, the scribe emphatically said the party never opted for legal action to upturn the result and that they are now looking beyond the declaration made by the electoral umpire making Cllr. Jallah the winner of the senatorial bye-election and it was final from the party’s perspective.

“So you want us to fight or do what? NEC has made their decision, we raised our concerns and done with it. Cllr. Jallah was declared winner and we are not going to take any other action. We have done with it and moved on”, Mo Ali who had prior to the final declaration of the results had busied himself posting favorable results from the party’s war room claiming that Galakpai Kortimai was poised to win the process, made a surprising statement.

However, some political pundits who followed the by-election with keen interest disagreed with Mo Ali , maintaining that the reasons provided by UP for not challenging the result could not be found with facts and logic.

Jartu Swen Thompson II a social critic, using the trending local parlance “Nobody Stupid Here”, said he is buying into the news around town that UP actually did a U-turn from pressure and threats from some powerful kingmakers and groups in Lofa County who vowed dire consequences against VP Boakai and UP if the election was challenged.

“I am told that the Gbandi people threatened JNB to hold a protest vote against him in 2023 if Cllr. Jallah’s election was ever challenged in court by UP and will also mobilize against any other candidate put forward by UP in the legislative elections. So this is the news behind why they did not go to court and I believe this”, the vocal activist said.

Ma Klubo Wilson-Flomo, a community leader in Voinjama said the decision by UP was purely borne out of shame and did not want to further embarrass themselves because the party did not see the defeat coming their way so easily.

“What actually happened was the shame and disgrace the party experienced during the election. They were too complacent and thought that the people are traditional people who respect their elders and once Boikai speaks and raises the hand of someone, it is over. But the people are getting wiser, they voted for those who they felt have been for them, those who assisted them and decided to pay back in kind. So my brother, leave that story, they did not want to further embarrass themselves and decided to move on and plan for 2023”, she said.

It can be recalled that after NEC made its final results public  Former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Standard Bearer of the Unity Party, Joseph Nyuma Boakai on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 made a bold statement on the outcome of the bye election, when he called for the scrapping  of the current Board of the National Elections Commission as constituted to be replaced by “a competent and partisan free NEC to prepare for 2023 general and presidential elections” while rejecting the entire results as not being representative of the wishes of the people of Lofa County and alerting NEC that the party’s legal team will be communicating with the electoral body to state its final position on the bye election.

“Unity Party and her allies take these many violations seriously as they have the effect of NEC selecting a Senator of Lofa County. How insulting to Lofa County!!! The people of Lofa county deserve better than an irregular and mistake-prone process presided over by the National Elections Commission. Over and over, we have questioned the credibility and capacity of this NEC to conduct free and fair elections in Liberia. Their open display of partisanship is also a troubling matter. We do not believe that the Commission as currently constituted can hold credible elections in Liberia in 2023”, former VP Boakai said among other things to raise concern against the result.