CDC’s Ticket Reflects Ebola Stigma?

-As Senatorial Hopes In Cape Mount Shun It

Credible information coming from Grand Cape Mount County says senatorial hopefuls in the county are shying away from running on the ticket of Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).

According to our source in the county, people aspiring to replace the fallen former Grand Cape Mount County Senator, Edward Dagoseh who recently died after battling with protracted illness early this year (2019).

Recently, the Liberian Senate officially informed the National Elections Commission (NEC) about a vacancy in the Liberian Senate as a result of the death of one of their fallen colleagues in Edward Dagoseh thus mandating the NEC to conduct a by-election aimed at filling the vacant seat created in the western Liberian County.

The NEC is therefore required by law under the Liberian Constitution to conduct a by-election in not more than a 90-day period.

The announcement of the Grand Cape Mount by-election is coming amidst uncertainty over an official winner of the just ended Representative By-election in Montserrado County District number 15 which became necessary as a result of the death of the former representative of the district, Adolph Lawrence.

As it stands, final result into the Montserrado County District number 15 By-election is far from being announced as the issues of electoral flaws and ballot tempering have now been placed before the Supreme Court of Liberia for final determination on whether to re-run the six precincts in questions or recount the ballots as prayed for by the CDC’s lawyers.

With the case still pending before the high court of the land and the calling for a by-election in Grand Cape Mount County, there are cogent information available to this paper that aspirants in the forest rich county are practically refusing to accept offer from the ruling establishment to contest on her (CDC) ticket which is very strange in the political arena of Liberia since the 2005 Presidential and Legislative Elections.

In time passed, many have accused the CDC of allegedly commercializing the slugs on the party’s ticket for both the Presidential and Legislative seats something stalwarts of the CDC have repeatedly denied.

The information became partly confirmed by Chairman Mulbah Morlu and Rep. Acarous Moses Gray when they both told journalists in Monrovia over the weekend that the CDC is not going to feature a candidate in the pending Grand Cape Mount Senatorial By-election something that is unusual for a ruling party like the CDC that did not shy away from past by-elections even when she was in opposition.

Many Liberians sending their views on the issue described it as a scary tactic on the part of the ruling party to avoid another senatorial by-election defeat as it was done in Montserrado County widely known as the stronghold of the CDC, an election that brought to the Liberian Senate Darius Dillon of the Liberty Party supported by three other opposition political parties.

With the reported shying away from the CDC’s ticket by politicians in such crucial election, many political commentators see the move as a show of rejection of the ruling establishment by Liberians due to perceived lost hope and lack of trust in the CDC led government to deliver the political or social goods to the people of Liberia.

CDC won fourteen of the fifteen political subdivisions of Liberia in the December 26, 2017 Presidential Run-Off Election handing over the mantle of authority to the CDC as a ruling party headed by former soccer legend, George M. Weah.

TNR