Sometime last year, the four largest and leading opposition political parties’ leaders came together in an alliance to project their political goals and ideas, and to checkmate the ruling CDC government. Those braving the political storm to make the alliance were the Standard Bearer of the Unity Party, Joseph Boakai, the Vision Bearer of the Liberty Party, the late Cllr. Charles Brumskine, the Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress, Alexander Cummings, and the Standard Bearer of the All Liberian Party, Benoni Urey.
After the symbolic signing of their collaboration pact, Benoni Urey was seized of the opportunity of being the first Chairman of the collaborating parties, named and styled Collaborating Political Parties (CPP).
Urey took on the mantle of authority and establish a Drafting Committee to write the rules and regulations governing the CPP, which was signed yesterday by the four political parties on Zoom. Each political leader via zoom allotted a time to make a brief statement before signing the agreement.
Urey, who has taken a lot of criticism for over-staying his chairmanship, had the uphill task of smoothing the path by drafting the agreement that binds the CPP. And so on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at about midday, the opposition Collaborating Political Parties signed a pact that binds them by law as one political entity.
Finally, the Founding Chairman of the CPP, Benoni Urey, has turned the Chairmanship over to Alexander Cummings, the first partisan of the ANC.
During the CPP Framework signing, the ANC was represented by Alexander Cummings, UP by Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, Liberty Party by Nyomblee Karngar-Lawrence, and ALP by Benoni Urey.
Mo Ali, Unity Party, made the overview of the program and drilled the gathering through the history of the establishment of the CPP and the drafting of the CPP framework, which has brought the four political parties into one big political establishment.
The overview of the program was followed by special statements and the signing of the framework by the political leaders of the four parties, which was also followed by the turning over ceremony of the CPP Chairmanship by Urey to Cummings. Special remarks were made by the new Chairman, Cummings, and vote of thanks was made by Liberty Party’s Rugie Barry.
Cummings is now in charge of the administrative work, and is the chief spokesman of the CPP, in consultation with the other three political parties’ leadership.
Under the CPP-Urey Chairmanship, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) were widely viewed as weak or lukewarm, locally and internationally, in speaking out against crimes committed against humanity and economic crimes. There were two mass demonstrations whose attendance was very poor. It is yet too early to determine the mindset of the Cummings Chairmanship, but of late Cummings has been totally engaged, speaking out against the ills of the CDC administration.