MONROVIA – The Secretary General of Liberia’s ruling party, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Jefferson Tamba Koijee is rallying partisans to refrain from acts that would undermine democracy and peace in the country in the aftermath of the results of the just-ended 2023 presidential election.
The CDC Chief Scribe said partisans of the party should be wary of those who would want to use their political defeat at the polls to ferment violence under the guise of being supporters and partisans of President George Weah and the CDC.
He spoke at a press conference on Sunday, November 19, 2023, at the party’s headquarters in Congo Town, Monrovia.
SG Koijee applauded President Weah for his magnanimity in accepting the outcome of the 2023 polls which is an unprecedented display of patriotism and putting the wellbeing of the country above his personal ambitions to become president at all costs.
Here is the full text of the CDC Secretary General’s statement verbatim:
“We want to congratulate all our collaborating parties for your hard work and dedication during this electioneering period. We want to warn those who are spies and pretending to be members of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) with evil intentions to manipulate our partisans and supporters.
We know our partisans very well. They are sober, peaceful and resilient people. No political party has withstood intense provocations and remained peaceful as we did for 12 years in opposition to the extent that our partisans and supporters were killed.
The CDC and its supporting political institutions went into this process with their all. We want to warn some of you who are pretending to be partisans and spreading false rumors that the CDC is calling for a rerun. That is false and misleading. Do not mislead our partisans. At no time did the CDC call for a rerun. There were issues in a few places in Nimba, Grand Gedeh and Grand Kru Counties. Those issues are being handled by the relevant people with the National Elections Commission (NEC). I want to call on partisans of the CDC not to allow themselves to be misled at this time because there are people who will come to you under the guise of being partisans of the Coalition for Democratic Change to feed you with misinformation and disinformation with the evil intent to misrepresent the institution during this critical period in our body politics.
You fought a good fight. I want to encourage you to listen to us to provide direction for you. Do not allow yourselves to be deceived. The President has spoken very clearly and he will be having a conversation with all of you. CDCians from across the world, we appreciate you. You have demonstrated your commitment and love for the President and the CDC. Please remain law-abiding. There’s time for everything. This time, we have committed ourselves to a peaceful, transparent and credible election. We will act responsibly and we want you to give deaf ears to misleading information that would push you to engage in acts that will undermine the peace of our country. Any negative actions taken by anyone claiming to be partisan of the CDC will not be condoned. If your action is in contravention of our calls for you to be peaceful and law-abiding, you will bear the consequences of those actions alone. We will condemn you.
The party structure will not accept acts that are counterproductive. We encourage you to be steadfast and calm. Do not take any unlawful actions. Follow the direction of your leaders, remain circumspect and act within the confines of the law. The President has spoken to the nation and the world. He will be speaking directly to you his supporters and partisans. As a ruling party, he has a responsibility to protect the peace of this country and ensure the right thing is done. When the National Elections Commission gives the final results announcing the winner, we will officially congratulate the winner as a responsible and democratic institution.
We appreciate the decision of the President to accept the outcome of the election as a leader who puts the well-being of his people and country above personal ambitions. I want you to give deaf ears to the misinformation and disinformation that are being spread around by evil-minded individuals. They don’t mean well for you. They see violence as their mainstay to remain relevant in society at the detriment of the vast majority of the population.
We do not want them to succeed in deceiving you. No matter how hurt and broken you are as a result of the outcome of the election, we call on you to be sober and peaceful. We will remain here and provide guidance to you on the future direction of our party.”
