LIBERIA: Opposition loses Biggest Chance to Challenge …Says MPC’s Freeman

The Political Leader of the opposition Movement for Progressive Change (MPC), Simeon Freeman, has said the opposition block is threading on a dangerous path by antagonizing each other rather than collaborating for an opposition victory.

Speaking Monday, July 17, 2023 when he appeared on Prime FM in Monrovia with a relay on several radio stations across the country, Mr. Freeman indicated that division within the opposition is creating more vulnerability and doing more harms to them (opposition), while the ruling establishment is being left unraveled.

Most frustratingly, the MPC political leader disclosed that all efforts initiated by him to employ a NATO style of friendship among oppositions, wherein they will challenge through a common interest have all fallen on infertile ground.

“We are creating vulnerability and doing ourselves harm. Our people are being disappointed in us. Party A is attacking Party B in the opposition and that’s not called for. As a means of having a formidable opposition force, we decided to introduce a NATO style of partnership wherein we will all hold together and have common interest. From the beginning most of the parties; about 22 parties from the opposition attended our first meeting, but out of a sudden, all just broke down,” said Mr. Freeman.

“We lost that opportunity because we are not talking to each other. Our concern in the opposition mostly has been who becomes president and who becomes vice president rather than how do we hold together to have a better chance at the poll. A NATO style would have made us to support each other. But we lost out and I don’t think we will get that opportunity back. As it stands, we don’t know the number of ballot papers that were brought into the country. These are the kinds of issues that we are supposed to speaking about through a united front. But if one party tries to raise that issue now, you will even be attacked by people within the very opposition,” he maintained.

“As an inter-party infrastructure, we would have done better. That is, you touch one you touch all as it is in the case of NATO. But we left all undone,” he pointed out.

As he readies to contest the ensuing 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, Mr. Freeman, unlike many of the aspirants, has a different development platform far from building road infrastructure.

According to him, the building of road would just be very difficult if not impossible to achieve on the heel of the meager resources that the country has.

“A World Bank study has shown that it will take us up to three to six billions to pave major roads in Liberia. So for me, a good maintenance of the roads would be better, while we created capacity for the people to get jobs. You cannot tell the people that you will put mountain in the cloud and build houses in the sky where there is no ladder to take them. All we need to do is that we must work towards improving living standards. We need to further assessments of our leaders to make the right decision and among them, Simeon Freeman is the man to trust this country with because he has a well-articulated vision,” he added.