By: Frank P Martin
MONROVIA: The Government of Liberia (GOL), through the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), has sharply reacted to recent prediction by Nimba County Senator, Prince Yormie Johnson, alias “PYJ” that former Vice President, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, will massive defeat incumbent President George Manneh Weah at the crucial October 2023 polls.
Speaking to this paper yesterday on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs, Jarlawa Tonpo, trashed PYJ’s Boakai Victory assertion, describing it as “reckless, for nothing desperation, and a loose talk.”
“I like to use your medium to say Senator Johnson’s statement has no sense of direction,” Tonpo declared on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.
According to the Deputy Spokesman of Government, Senator Prince Y. Johnson should not be taken seriously in the nation’s body politics because he suffers from dearth (lack) of respect due to his “double standard operation.”
Mr. Tonpo strongly believes that Liberians are resolved to re-elect incumbent President George Manneh Weah to state power on the ticket of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
He maintains that Senator Johnson and his opposition friends are jittering over President Weah’s pending “one round victory” at the October 2023 polls.
Tonpo: “It is an act of fear as he (Johnson) senses Boakai’s defeat at the polls”.
The Deputy MICAT boss called on well-meaning Liberians to condemn PYJ. “While we are condemning him, he must be condemned by all,” Tonpo added.
Mr. Tonpo stressed that Liberia will not revert to its previous dark days under the watchful eyes of President Weah who tirelessly advocated and worked for the restoration of peace and national stability over the years, especially when the country was at war with itself.
“This Country, under the watch of President Weah, shall not revert to the dark days,” the Deputy MICAT boss further assured.
It may be recalled that amid heavy rainfall in Monrovia on Sunday, September 17, 2023, supporters of the former governing Unity Party (UP), trooped to the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS), on UN Drive in Monrovia to reaffirm their unreserved support for the victory of Boakai’s “RESCUE MISSION” in the October 2023 polls.
Few hours after the UP rally held at the ATS Senator Johnson, a key supporter of the UP Standard-bearer, addressed a news conference, at which time he applauded the Boakai-Koung supporters and subsequently predicted Mr. Boakai’s victory in the pending polls.
According to Senator Johnson, right now, President Weah has few days to spend in the Nation’s top seat as he awaits the political demise of his administration’s lifespan at the polls.
PYJ: “The message from the people yesterday (September 17) is clear. This shows that the Weah-led administration has failed the Liberian people and a new dawn is fast approaching in 2024, when Boakai is elected on October 10 this year.”
The former Vice President is the main political rival to incumbent President George Manneh Weah.
Both Weah and Boakai, in 2017, went to a presidential runoff before Weah was declared winner of the polls.
However, the launch of the Unity Party campaign comes in close comparison to that of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which took the lead to launch theirs on September 7, 2023, pulling crowds that left many political observers astonished.
The UP has claimed it is on a path to unseat President Weah democratically.
Conversely, however, incumbent President Weah has vowed to massively defeat any opposition political collaborations, based on his successful records of performance in the last five plus years of his presidency.
The incumbent Liberian leader insists that he has brought more development to Liberia in the five plus years of his leadership than any previous government in the country.
In the past five years, the opposition has challenged the governing CDC on narratives that the Country is hard and that the CDC is not governing well.
Several months ago, the opposition CPP of candidate Alexander Cumming, which splintered with the Unity party, launched a ‘We tire suffering rally.’
The opposition generally has pushed the argument and narrative that Liberians will make President Weah a one-term president.
