Official campaign has begun, but without an approved timetable for everyone contesting for the representative, senatorial and presidential elections.
According to an insider from the National Elections Commission (NEC), the election body is not responsible to draw up schedules for the election runners; instead, candidates and political parties are supposed to submit their campaign schedules for approval.
The source informed the Hot Pepper that many of the presidential candidates have submitted their schedules, which have been approved accordingly. However, the schedules of the representative and senatorial candidates are yet to be received. Apparently, the source said, some of the candidates may have submitted their schedules to their respective county magistrates, but they are yet to reach the NEC’s Political Affairs Department.
Even though the CDC had the approval to be in districts #9 and #10 on Thursday, August 10, 2023, their crowd unfortunately bumped into those from the Unity Party (UP) and Montserrado County’s district #10 independent candidate and incumbent Representative, Yekeh Kolubah, who had gone to carry out separate campaign activities.
The CDC, led by their Standard Bearer and President of the Republic of Liberia, George Manneh Weah, was headed to district #9 when they met along the way a UP crowd awaiting the arrival of their Standard Bearer, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, at the Vamoma intersection.
Ambassador Boakai was expected to hold an in-door press conference to announce his full campaign team for the 2023 elections yesterday at the UP’s national campaign headquarters, Airfield; as such, UP partisans and supporters had come out to await him at the Vamoma intersection to escort him to the venue. Unfortunately, while there, the CDC crowd arrived and tension mounted between the two groups.
A number of persons were reportedly injured from both sides and taken to separate clinics. As a result, the Unity Party announced a postponement of their event due to the unexpected disruption and blockade of the road, which could have obstructed Ambassador Boakai from getting to the venue on time.
A release issued by the UP Alliance Official Campaign Spokesman, Mo Ali, said, “While en route to the UP’s national campaign headquarters as previously planned and scheduled to announce the additional and final campaign team and interact with partisans, supporters and well-wishers of the Rescue Mission, the entourage of the UP’s Standard Bearer, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, encountered a massive traffic caused by the unexpected and unplanned activities of the CDC.
“Partisans and militants of the CDC disrupted activities of UP partisans who had gathered at Vamoma to welcome their Standard Bearer.
“In view of the foregoing, UP Alliance’s Campaign has decided to postpone the planned press conference for the purpose of avoiding confrontation that could lead to violence between and among supporters of the two parties and also in observation of the Farmington Declaration.
“The UP Alliance calls the attention of the National Elections Commission (NEC) to this constant disruptive behavior of the CDC. We also call on our international partners to caution the CDC to abide by the Farmington Declaration.”
In a sharp reaction to the UP press release, the Weah-Taylor 2023 Campaign Team released a statement, describing as false the claim made by the Unity Party. The release said, “The Weah-Taylor Campaign Committee wishes to clarify that the CDC’s on-going district engagements of its standard bearer and vice standard bearer, which were continuing on Thursday in districts #9 and #10 of Montserrado County, had been pre-announced a week ago on various national media platforms. The CDC also communicated its key campaign dates to the National Elections Commission (NEC).”
According to the CDC release, “In spite of the prior announcement, the Weah-Taylor 2023 Campaign Committee, recognizing that the Unity Party was seeking to provoke violence by deliberately ignoring the CDC’s prevailing campaign schedule by going ahead to plan their own event on the same day, decided to postpone the prescheduled start of activities in district #9 for more than four hours to avoid any conflict with UP partisans, who had announced a press conference for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.
“As a consequence of the irresponsible and violent actions of the Unity Party, partisans of the Coalition for Democratic Change were brutalized by Unity Partisans during today’s activities.
“The Weah-Taylor 2023 Campaign Committee therefore calls the attention of the National Elections Commission (NEC), the United Nations Resident Coordinator, the office of the ECOWAS representative and other well-meaning international partners to this flagrant provocation from the Unity Party and urges their timely intervention to avert future recurrence.”
On the same day, the CDC also bumped into the crowd of Representative Yekeh Kolubah on the Old Road. Representative Kolubah had gathered his supporters and were touring the district when they met along the way supporters of the CDC. However, it was reported that President Weah mandated his supporters to let alone Yekeh and his group.
But the Hot Pepper was told by the NEC source that Representative Kolubah has not submitted his campaign schedule and, therefore, he should not have come out on the day allocated to the CDC, putting the district #10 lawmaker in the wrong.