Liberia: CPP’s Collapse Due to ‘Collective Failure’

The once enviable Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) is at the brink of collapse and some pundits think that Abraham Darius Dillion, Senator of Montserrado County is one of the individuals responsible for the imminent fall of the political grouping, something the Lawmaker did not contest against when he appeared on the OK FM afternoon show

Dillon described it as a collective failure on the part of him and all other executives of the four political parties for not holding together, and that they have continued to fight each other instead of checkmating the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration led by President George Manneh Weah.

“It is a collective failure that we did not unite on Capitol Hill to checkmate the ruling party. Yes, I take responsibility and I hope others will do the same. CPP is in disarray but you in the media and the public need to choose what we really want,” he said, noting that the media should elevate the voices of the minority who vote against ideas that are bad for the country.

“Even the civil society organizations should have been supporting us but you hardly or don’t hear them advocate for what we push for, even though they all yearn for real change,” Dillon alleged.

He called on the media, talk show hosts in particular, to make issues he and some other Lawmakers see as not good for the country and voted against as topical issues.

“Sadly, CPP is in tatters and in disarray due to all of us somehow. The general picture of CPP is not a happy one. We were so antagonistic towards one another that 2021 went by with CPP fighting CPP. We failed to look at the excesses of the government. We were so busy fighting one another that McGill could build anything for his ma burial and President Weah could sing any number of songs as he did.”

He added that the CPP should have been a blessing to the country but it has turned into something that looks like a curse.

Concerning the argument relative to who appears on the ticket of CPP as a standard-bearer or a legislative candidate, Dillon said it is not just anyone who is qualified to win on the ticket and. Therefore, he suggested, it is good for some members of the collaboration to know that they don’t deserve the opportunity.

Dillon, although not frantic about his support to Joseph Nyumah Boakai, told the public that he is leaning on the side of the former Vice President. He and Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, political leaders of the crisis-prone Liberty Party, are supportive of Boakai’s ticket for the CPP. Benoni Urey of the All Liberian Party is also supportive of the Boakai ticket.

He noted that in March of this year (2022), if CPP fails to hold together, the best option would be to dissolve it and those who have like minds move on together. Already, the ALP of Urey has voted and left the CPP, although followed by a court proceeding against Alexander Cummings of Alternative National Congress (ANC). Unity Party is also said to be making its way out of the CPP, even though its political leader, Joseph Nyumah Boakai is now the chairman of the political CPP.

“The saying, ‘Man proposes and God disposes of’, is proven to be true in my view,” Dillon told his interviewer. “Ordinarily we were proposing that a Boakai-Cummings ticket was a walk in a park. Maybe that was not God’s proposal. God will form His ticket for the CPP if it should survive.”

The Senator, who has been noted for his consistent Facebook podcasts on issues as well as his appearances on talk shows, said contrary to the belief of certain people that he is amassing wealth as a Legislator, he has a little over US$3,000 in his account and about six to seven hundred thousand Liberian Dollars in his accounts.

He boasted of having no other bank account outside of Liberia as some other politicians have. Verification is needed, though, as his assets declaration in 2019 created lots of questions on truth-telling, mainly when he declared that he had only US$15 in his United States Dollars bank account after years of work in the offices of a former solicitor general, former Senator Jewel Howard Taylor, now Vice President of Liberia and former Speaker Edwin Snowe, now Senator of Bomi County.

The Montserrado County Senator named the late Bishop Michael K. Francis and Baccus Matthews, a progressive politician (deceased) as two individuals who inspired his political career.

On his lowest side of 2021, Dillon reiterated his regret for telling a lie about his plane ticket which he used to travel to the U.S. He however said he has overcome its aftermath and is now recalibrating to return to the Dillon that many people turned out in their numbers and voted for.

About his most rewarding moment, he referred to his receipt of the African Achievers Award, given in London, which his children went and received on his behalf.

He explained that, through the help of Senate Pro Tempore Albert Tugbe Chie, he (Dillon) spoke with President George Weah on the phone, and they both agreed to work for the common interest of Liberia.

“We committed that we will work for the country. I thank the President for letting us know, in his new year’s message, a manifest to leave old things behind and I commit that we will continue to do so,” Dillon said.