Welcome Onboard -Weah Co-opts 6 New Political Entrants into CDC  

MONROVIA – The buildup to 2023 electoral campaign has been hovering over the political horizon like heavy storm gathering before the rains. The landscape is aggressively shaking and vibrating by the day heralding the dichotomy: an intrinsically determined opposition seeking an end to what they call “failed Weah administration” and the well-entrenched ruling class which is desperate to perpetuate itself on its “pro-poor and redemptive development programs”. The biggest news in the 2023 political stratification is that six former opposition political parties have got themselves swallowed up in the belly of the ruling CDC superstructure, and the reining Standard Bearer, President George Manneh Weah, has elatedly opened his arms out to receive them. The Analyst reports.     

President George Manneh Weah has heartedly officially accepted and welcomed six opposition political parties that put themselves forward to get mainstreamed in to the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) after they signed a Grand Coalition framework was signed.

The signing ceremony involved nine political parties now forming the Coalition for Democratic Change which originally constituted three political institutions, including: Congress for Democratic Change, (CDC), National Patriotic Party (NPP), and Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP).

The new entrants included the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE), People Liberation Party (PLP), Union of Liberian Democrats (ULD), United People Party (UPP), Change Democratic Coalition (CDA), and Redemption Democratic Congress (RDC) forming a grand coalition.

In an official acceptance speech, President George Weah stated that the decision of the six political parties signifies their vision for a better Liberia.

President Weah promised that the CDC will ensure that those additional parties are provided the space to tailor their approaches in line with the tripartite agreement at all times.

“Now, therefore, as you have been baptized you have to behave as coalition members by following the realm of the standard bearer” Weah declares.

Meanwhile, President Weah bragged that his government continues to tailor developments as paramount to attend to the needs of the citizenry whilst predicting that the coalition will be an indomitable force in the ensuing elections.

Remarking on behalf of the six political parties, MOVEE Political Leader, Dee Maxwell Kameyah, said their decision is in the realization of the many developments of the CDC government over the years.

“For example, instead of two third of our partisans (MOVEE) supporting this cause, it was a unanimous decision by all of our supporters to join the CDC. This demonstrates our love for Liberia” Kameyah added.

Kameyah further expressed an unwavering commitment to the leadership of President Weah and will do everything to secure his re-election.

The signing ceremony which was held on Saturday, April 8, 2023 at MOVEE National Headquarters in Paynesville was witnessed by political leaders, chairpersons, and partisans of the nine political parties.

Feel At Home

“It is my pleasing duty, therefore, on behalf of the leadership of the CDC – and in my capacity as its Standard Bearer – to welcome all of you to our Coalition,” a visibly joyful President Weah said at the signing up occasion Saturday, April 9.

“Let me stress how happy I am that you have placed your trust in the CDC, which signifies that you believe that our vision for this Nation aligns with yours.  By joining the CDC, you have honored a patriotic duty to nationhood, and I can assure you that the CDC will make very sure that you are welcome and comfortable in your new political home.”

He updated the new CDC entrants that the party was formed to promote the interests of the Liberian people; some he said “is paramount in everything that we do, and is a fundamental pillar of our pro-poor development agenda.”

He promised endeavor to acquaint the new constituent members of the CDC with the principles and ideology of the party, “as we work collaboratively to achieve our shared goals”.

The Liberian Chief Executive thanked six parties for completing the “necessary paperwork that has brought us to this official and public affirmation of our union. 

“This should now pave the way for the formal consummation of this Grand Coalition document that we have all signed.”

Together, the president noted, they all will constitute a 9-member strong bloc with the singular purpose of bettering the lives of the Liberian people.

“I need not over-emphasize how MIGHTY that is. Collectively, I predict that our Grand Coalition will be an indomitable force,” Dr. Weah said further, expressing his joy the six new political parties were out to join the mighty Coalition for Democratic Change. 

“This will mark a significant enlargement of the CDC into a broad-based political movement that incorporates a multiplicity of diverse and various actors in the Liberian society into a single unified political organization,” the President said further, making it clear that “is room for everyone in our broad church.

“We will continue to build on existing alliances, even as we form new ones. It is my belief that a diverse union, such as the one we are signing up for today, presents varied perspectives to our body politic, which is very crucial for national development and reconciliation.”

The Masses’ Party

The CDC Standard Bearer told the new entrants that the CDC is a part of the masses, and it has always been so from the time of its founding. 

It is a grass-roots movement that embodies the hope of ordinary people, he stressed, indicating that for more than a decade after the formation of the party, while in opposition, “we championed the cause of the downtrodden.”

“Now, as a ruling party, we have tailored policies and development programs to specifically focus on improving the lives of the poor.”

President Weah boasted: “In so doing, we have instituted tuition-free policies at secondary and tertiary schools.  Regarding infrastructure improvements, we have built hospitals, housing units, parks and more schools. Additionally, hundreds of kilometers of roads are also being built, including those leading to markets in rural areas.

“Large and small-scale development projects continue to sprout in various places across the country. It is these enormous undertakings that we have managed to pull off in so short a time, that will be presented to the Liberian people in October of this year as our proud track record, and as the basis for requesting a second mandate to complete the works that we have already begun.” 

He said with the coming on board by the six new political parties, “our combined efforts, from this day onwards, will be needed to achieve this. You have made no mistake: the CDC presents the path to sustainable development. We must ensure that the momentum for more development continues.”

“Welcome aboard, as we continue to strive for peace and prosperity for all Liberians,” he concluded.

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