By: Frank P. Martin
MONROVIA: Former Vice President, Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s presidential bid appears to be embraced day-by-day by a growing number of distinguished and leading Liberian politicians and professionals.
Among those who are said to be embracing the Boakai-Koung Presidential bid, is former House Speaker, J. Alex Tyler.
An associate of former Speaker Tyler hinted this paper that he (Tyler) who recently suspended his membership from the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP), a constituent party of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), is set to cross carpet to the former ruling Unity Party (UP) and its RESCUE Team, headed by Joseph Nyuma Boakai, alias “RESCUE 1” and Jeremiah Kpan Koung, “RESCUE 2.”
” Tyler would be the third big fish” in the country to join the JNB-JKK RESCUE Team,” sources told this paper, naming Nimba County’s charismatic Senator, and former warlord, Prince Yormie Johnson; and Grand Bassa County’s influential Senator, Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence, alias, “Rescue Mother,” who recently endorsed the JNB-JKK presidential bid.
According to our sources, the Liberia People’s Democratic Party (LPDP), founder, J. Alex Tyler, is expected to join the JNB Rescue team this week.
Some closed-associates of the former Speaker also hinted this paper that his decision was caused by the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government’s alleged failure to meet the desires and aspirations of the Liberian people.
According to our sources, Tyler strongly believes that former Vice President Boakai and his team are capable to rescue the Liberian people from prolonged socio-economic and other tedious challenges.
The Tyler loyalists added that Tyler sees the “RESCUE TEAM” as the best alternative to redeem the country from a “klaptocratic” government, wherein lawlessness, ritualistic killings, smuggling of drugs, the waning of the nation’s justice system, wanton corruption in public space, etc., have become the order of the day in Liberia.
They told this paper that the sense of nationalism which Tyler saw in Weah prior to his ascendancy to the Liberian presidency with focus on popular national destiny has been swept under the carpet and subsequently replaced by promotion of tribal and sectional loyalties.
This situation, they said, has also been translated into the poor performances of high ranking public officials under the Weah regime and their acquisition of questionable wealth.
However, an official of the ruling CDC, who prefers not to be named for this story because he was not authorized to speak to the media, slammed Tyler’s planned alignment with the JNB-JKK Rescue Team as “not a threat to the CDC’s victory in the 2023 polls.”
He indicated that Tyler was speaker of the House of Representatives during the erstwhile Sirleaf Administration but he was removed from such influential and powerful post by his Legislative comrades for “corruption and leadership failure,” hence, he is not a threat to the CDC in the pending elections.
