Former Montserrado County District #11 Representative Gabriel Nyenka has ruled out any capability by opposition political parties to unseat President George Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government at the poll in 2023, despite their recent alliance in the wake of ‘unwarranted’ criticisms of the regime.
Last Thursday, four opposition political parties, including Unity Party (UP), Liberty Party (LP), Alternative National Congress (ANC), and All Liberia Party (ALP), signed a joint communiqué to work together as a mark of strengthening the country’s democracy.
On the average, the Liberian populace is of a widespread view that such political convergence by the opposition would have a short lifespan which, they believe, will be a result of power struggle as to who heads the union.
When interviewed by a local radio station in Monrovia on Monday, Nyenka, who is currently the Executive Director of the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI), said such merger has “no magnitude of political fear amongst partisans of the ruling CDC.”
In the 2017 presidential runoff election, CDC won with 732,185 votes (61.5%), followed by UP with 459,579 votes (38.5%) of the total ballot.
Prior to the runoff, however, LP, ANC, and ALP had crawled with 149,495 (9.6%), 112,067 votes (7.2%), 24,246 votes (1.6%) respectively, as the remaining parties in the poll formed a queue on the downward trend.
Notwithstanding, Nyenka appreciated the joining of hands by the four parties, calling it a sign of democratic consolidation that will enhance political competition in the country, but stressed that “it in no way poses threat to the CDC.”
Liberians are now enjoying a considerable level of democratic maturity under the Weah-led government, and the gains that have been made cannot be reversed by anyone for any reason, he indicated.
“The merger of those political parties is significant because it would reduce the number of political institutions,” he continued, and noted that the move could also see the minimization of political parties to at least save many voters from being confused.
Moreover, Nyenka stated that the popularity of President Weah, mainly among the youth of the country, cannot be overemphasized, indicating the impossibility for any party or group of parties to shorten the political mandate of the President in the next vote.
