"CPP Failed, but New Political Coalition Possible" -- Says NDC Vice Chair Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan
A Liberian alliance of political parties, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), has been engulfed with internal problems over the past several months as elections for the country’s 2023 general and presidential elections draws nearer.
With the recent withdrawal of one of its [CPP] member parties about a week ago, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, the International Vice Chair of the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), has said that, “the CPP has failed based on the way it was formed without foundation, but there will be new political alignment and realignments of like-minded political parties that will lead to a new and stronger political coalition based on principles and national interest.”
The CPP was formed about three years ago by four opposition parties including the former ruling party (the Unity Party) which was unseated in the 2017 elections after 12 years of rule, the Liberty Party, the All Liberian Party, and the Alternative National Congress.
The alliance CPP has been entangled with internal conflicts since its formation due to an intense fight to head the its 2023 ticket and controversies surrounding the authenticity of its “Framework Agreement,” a document that was intended to bind the members party, but was never fully implemented.
In an exclusive back-to-back interview on Focus On Liberia Hour of Politics with Ansony Sieh and the Liberian Public Radio with Alphonso Zeon Soe, the medical scientist and political activist, Dr. Nyan, attributed the CPP’s failure to the “lack of a uniting principle and philosophy among the member parties, lack of a well-structured governing document, lack of commitment, building of personality cult instead of building the institution, and actions of freelance-politicians who have no political stability.”
He added that, “it is unfortunate, because the Liberian people had their hopes in a united CPP that would contest the 2023 elections against the current government and its vices.”
The last several days saw the withdrawal of the All Liberian Party (ALP) from the CPP in a press release issued on 30th December 2021, while the Liberty Party (LP), another member party, is gripped with internal divisions among its party leaders and members.
“We are hopeful that a new and stronger political coalition will be formed which will bring together parties that put Liberia’s interest first before positions or individuals,” Dr. Nyan said.
He further mentioned that, “that is why the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), a social democratic political coalition, will work very hard to have like-minded political parties coming together out of this fall-out based on an agreed national program and platform to move the country forward.”
Asked whether a failed CPP is an advantage for the current president, Dr. Nyan commented that a “disintegrated CPP coupled with the current president having so much state financial resources under his command is a plus for the president, but that he [president] has to work harder for a victory, since the trend has shown that the voters seem to be more sympathetic towards former Liberian Vice President Jospeh Boakai at the moment as a favorable candidate.”
The NDC, a social democratic political entity, was founded in 2011. It is comprised of the New Democratic Alternative for Liberia Movement (The NEW DEAL Movement), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and other social democratic political groupings in Liberia. The NDC holds its National Congress in the first quarter of this year 2022. This will follow the Consultative Meeting of the NDC’s North American Chapter held in Pennsylvania in November last year.