Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar
Monrovia – What can be described as a war of words have ensued over what’s the actual outcome of President George Weah’s called meeting between the Government of Liberia and members of the opposition bloc, leaving many wondering whether the forum went well.
President Weah, upon the advice of the National Independence Day Celebration Committee, Wednesday, hurriedly invited opposition political parties to a one-day dialogue, according to the Executive mansion, with the hope of advancing ideas that would promote the spirit of national unity and political tolerance between the opposition bloc and the government.
Journalists booted out
But, as all was set for the meeting to get underway Thursday, to the astonishment of many, President Weah booted out members of the media who have converged to give on-the-spot reports to the people of Liberia, residents of the country and others across the world, a situation which has now left each attendee of the forum to now be releasing varying views as per the outcome of the forum.
The meeting with the opposition political parties was intended to be interactive, according to the president, hence, he wanted the media out of the forum.
Many media personnel present at the meeting which was held at a local hotel in the capital, Monrovia, expressed dissatisfaction over the decision, with some making that known by the frowns visibly written on their faces, while others murmured, as they were seen in pocket-groups discussing President Weah’s decision that came as a shock to several persons.
Diverse interpretations
PUNCH has gathered that following the meeting which was attended by President Weah, his vice president, Jewel Howard-Taylor, party chair, Mulbah Morlu, scores of officials of government and an impressive turnout from the opposition bloc, many opposition political party leaders who attended the forum are asserting that from the look of things at the hurriedly arranged one-day summit, Liberians should not expect that the outcome will change anything in the current affairs of the governance process of the country.
Prior to the Thursday meeting, hopes were high that discussions between government and opposition party figures would have at least paved the way to among others unravel the current economic puzzle causing untold hardship in the country.
PUNCH has reliably learned that Liberty Party’s Vice chairperson for political affairs, Abraham Darius Dillion, has slammed the meeting as a flop, and a one out of which no concrete outcome should be envisaged.
Dillon says as a result of the meeting, nothing is going to change, indicating that President Weah failed to have first given the opposition political party leaders an overview of his stewardship of the country for the past seven months, i.e. challenges the administration is faced with, exactly how and where the president wants the support of the opposition bloc.
Instead, Dillon lamented that right from the go of things at the forum, President Weah proceeded with asking the opposition bloc about its impression of the governance process under his watch, a move the Liberty Party man believes is counterproductive.
He blamed President Weah for allowing leaders of opposition political parties that are collaborating with the ruling party to have attended the meeting that was meant for total opposition political parties, stating that in the truest sense, the regime collaborators should have never been considered in the way the organizers of the forum did.
He intoned that there was no agenda for the president’s called meeting with the opposition political parties, saying, the gathering was just another mere political posturing, which outcome he thinks will yield no fruits, as far as the foreign exchange rate being reduced and the prosecution of those bearing the greater responsibility for war crimes in Liberia are concerned.
Howbeit, Deputy Minister of Information, Eugene Fahngon, in response to Dillon’s assertions, told a local radio station that the Liberty Party vice chair for political affairs needs to go back to school, indicating he (Dillon) slipped when he said the meeting had no agenda.
“This is part of the reason we continue to insist that Dillon is a fine gentleman he needs to go back to school, said Fahngon, adding, “… in the invitation, and even before then, the president stated emphatically that he was inviting opposition parties so as to chart the course of the future for our country.”
But Fahngon was promptly replied by a former Assistant Minister of Information, Jacob Jallah, who also phoned-in to the radio station live talk show, cautioning the deputy minister for his outburst against Dillon.
“I listened to Fahngon talking about Dillon going back to school – I mean Fahngon has proven … to be a lunatic. This is a man who behaves based on the moon; when the moon is up, he’s all over the place and he doesn’t behave effectively,” Jallah said.
He called on Fahngon, who he said has a low-level education, only an Associate of Arts degree, to refrain from insulting Dillon and other members of the opposition bloc – “he should not be insulting Dillon and members of the opposition community – I mean it is sad. How much education does Fahngon have? This is a man who only owns an AA, and he should keep his mouth shut,” Jallah said.
He described the government, opposition political parties’ meeting as a fantastic farce, indicating that the foundation of the gathering was fundamentally flawed, with what he referred to as there being no concrete basis for such forum.
Observers believe all the squabble would have been avoided, was president Weah to have allowed the media give coverage to the meeting and reported exactly what took place in the hall, instead of each attendee giving their own perspective, which is drawing ire in other quarters.
Time factor
PUNCH understands another sticky issue that came out of the Thursday talks was the three minutes allotted for each political institution to have deliberated. Besides the All Liberian Party (ALP) political leader, businessman Benoni Urey, who requested that his time be extended to five minutes, all other speakers at the forum spoke within a three-minute allotted time frame.
However, several opposition political party leaders are of the opinion that three minutes was not enough of time, to have discussed firmly and frankly the plethora of national issues negatively impacting the smooth operation of the Weah administration.
But President Weah’s party’s chairman, Mulbah Morlu thinks contrarily, answering opposition political party leaders and others with such view, that with over 20 political parties being represented at the meeting, it would not have been feasible to have allowed any longer time than what the organizers of the forum gave for the one day event.
Morlu said all parties present at the meeting had a leverage of time to make their presentations, but noted that even with all the cries of the allotted time being short, there were opposition parties speakers who would not even exhaust more than two minutes of the three allotted them.
Recommendations likely to fall on deaf ear
Insiders have confided in PUNCH that it is most likely that several recommendations advanced in the closed-door meeting may not be implemented, as president Weah seemed uneasy over doing so.
Besides being eager to pass the dual citizenship bill into law, so that his son, Timothy Weah, who holds a US citizenship to play for the Liberian national football team, the president told attendees at the meeting that issues like the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia and fighting corruption would be difficult for his administration to achieve, according to sources.
According to our sources, in response to a specific recommendation from ALP Benoni Urey, for the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia, President Weah said it was a difficult thing to do because according to the Liberian leader some of those that bear the greater responsibility for war crimes in the country are part of the regime.
Also in response to the call to prosecute former and present officials of government for graft based on past audit reports, the president said this also would prove difficult to be done, indicating that some of those implicated in these corruption cases are family members, and going after them would be interpreted as witch-hunt, according to our sources.
