MONROVIA: Alexander Benedict Cummings, Standard-bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) has rallied thousands of supporters to vote him as President of Liberia.
Mr. Cummings, addressing a mammoth crowd at the CPP Victory Rally held on Sunday at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) in Monrovia, taunted his closest rivals, incumbent President George Manneh Weah of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and former Vice President, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, of Unity Party by calling on his supporters to reject the duo at the polls.
“My fellow Liberians, to the young people of Liberia, to the women of Liberia, to the elderly, on October 10, let’s give President Weah a red card and park the sports car in the garage. Let’s choose real change for our country, real change for the young people of Liberia. We want to look after the older people of Liberia, we want to look after the women, we are going to provide loans to Liberian businesses, Cllr. Brumskine and myself are going to fix Liberia,” said Cummings as he mounted the podium to address his supporters.
The CPP Victory Rally on Sunday marked the culmination of the parties’ campaign in Montserrado County.
The CPP decided to reschedule its rally to October 1st, deviating from the initial plan of holding it on October 6th.
Cummings attributed this change to communication from the National Elections Commission, (NEC) which informed them that three other political parties had also planned rallies for the same day.
In the spirit of constructive engagement and avoiding conflicts with other political events, Cummings said as an opposition leader that is committed to a different approach, he chose to shift the rally date to October 1st.
Speaking via the popular 50-50 talk show, he called CPP supporters and Liberians who want change, to turn out on election day and vote out the CDC led government, headed by President George Weah.
Addressing the crowd, the CPP Standard-bearer expressed gratitude to the organizers, Legislative candidates and all Liberians for the huge turnout for the CPP “Victory Rally”.
Cummings assured Liberians that a CPP Government will mark a turning point in the economic life of the Liberian people.
He provide decent paying jobs, restore basic infrastructure including good roads, hospitals and schools as well as other social services that will ease the suffering of the vast majority of ordinary citizens.
He urged Liberians to reject President George Weah at the polls by giving him a “red card” for what Cummings described as “his poor leadership performance” which has subjected the vast majority of citizens to extreme hardship and bad living conditions.
Dozens of CPP auxiliary groups, ordinary citizens including some religious leaders turned out at the ATS for the CPP political rally.
Some of the auxiliaries were “Global Youth Movement, Wings of Cummings, Moboidral For Cummings, Progressive Liberians for Cummings, CPP Bestee For Life, Cummings Support group, Friends of Pat Mandela, Friends of Wisner, Friends of Attorney Lawrence Suah, Friends of Sambola, Friends of Nancy, Friends of Brisco and Friends of Roseline.
Others were the Cummings Alternative Girls, Royal Sisters for Cummings, Alternative Girls, Alliance for Justice and Democracy, Young Professionals of Liberia, Crowd Liberia, Mentrol Bloc 106, Professionals for Cummings, the CPP National Youth Congress, and Innovative Youth for Cummings, the WFC- Church, and the Liberia Solidarity Party.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Independent Candidates and CPP Montserrado and Bomi Counties Legislative Candidates also turned out in huge numbers, along with Montserrado County District 10 Representative, Yekeh Kolubah, at the pre-victory rally.
Several Liberian Performing Artists entertained the crowd with beautiful music as various other political and support groups danced to campaign songs in support of the CPP Standard-bearer. At the ATS, thousands of supporters dressed in the CPP official colors of red, white and green.
Citizens began converging on the ATS as early as 10 a.m. local time, six hours ahead of the official program.
The CPP Standard Bearer later arrived at the venue accompanied by his wife, Madam Teresa Cummings, Vice Standard-bearer, Cllr. Charlyne M. Brumskine, along with other executive partisans.
The CPP Victory Rally turned out to be the biggest musical extravaganza and jamboree, with echoes of music all around the ATS as citizens danced with great excitement, according to some political commentators.
The arrival of Mr. Cummings and entourage ignited the thousands of supporters with renewed energy and zeal, as they danced and shouted slogans such as, “Cummings is the man we want.”
Earlier, CPP vice Standard-bearer Cllr. Charlyne M. Brumskine cautioned Liberians against repeating past mistakes of electing wrong leaders blamed for the hardship and suffering of the vast majority.
She denounced the 12-year rule of the Unity Party for rampant corruption and the “six-year inept leadership” of President Weah for “massive fraud and poor governance.”
The CPP vice Standard-bearer urged Liberians to reject both the Unity Party and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) at the October 10 poll.
“You can’t leave from 12 years of suffering, endured another six years of hardship and suffering and want to go back. Liberians must vote them out,” Cllr. Brumskine said.
