-Urges Unity and Forgiveness
By Jerromie S. Walters
MONROVIA – Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has urged members of the National Patriotic Party to set aside more than ten years of internal conflict and embrace reconciliation, saying the party’s future matters more than its past disagreements.
Madam Howard-Taylor issued the message on the first Sunday of June, a day she described as one traditionally set aside for worship, reflection, forgiveness, and renewal. She addressed the statement to party elders, partisans, and supporters at home and abroad.
“For more than a decade, our beloved National Patriotic Party has endured seasons of internal conflict, division, misunderstanding, and disappointment,” Howard-Taylor said. She acknowledged that these challenges tested the party’s resilience and at times threatened the unity that once made the NPP a formidable force in Liberian politics.
But Howard-Taylor emphasized that the NPP has endured through it all. She revealed that she has held sincere engagements and consultations with respected party elders and stakeholders. She said they have collectively agreed that the time has come to turn a new page.
“The future of our party is far more important than the disagreements of the past,” Howard-Taylor said. “The hopes of our members are greater than our differences. The responsibility we carry to preserve and strengthen the NPP for future generations demands that we choose reconciliation over resentment, unity over division, and progress over stagnation.”
The former Vice President made clear that this moment does not concern winners and losers. Instead, she called on Patriots to come together, rebuild trust, restore confidence, and reposition the party for a stronger future.
Madam Howard-Taylor urged every member to embrace the spirit of forgiveness. She called on them to release old grievances and extend grace to one another. She reminded them that every great institution faces challenges, but she stressed that what defines its future is not the conflicts it has faced but its willingness to rise above them.
She reminded Liberians that the NPP was built upon sacrifice, commitment, and the belief that Liberians deserve a better future. She said those ideals remain as relevant today as they were at the party’s founding.
“We owe it to our founders, our elders, our youth, our women, and our loyal supporters to ensure that the party emerges from this period stronger, more united, and better prepared for the challenges ahead,” Howard-Taylor said.
The Standard Bearer of the NPP called on the party to move forward with renewed purpose. She asked members to remain united in vision, united in leadership, united in service to members, and united in commitment to Liberia. “May this first Sunday in June mark not merely another day on the calendar, but the beginning of a genuine reconciliation process and a renewed march toward peace, unity, and progress within our party,” she said.
Howard-Taylor acknowledged that the road ahead may not always be easy. But she insisted that together, members can achieve far more than they ever could apart. “Let us close ranks. Let us rebuild together. Let us move forward together,” she said. She concluded with a prayer for the National Patriotic Party and the Republic of Liberia and cited Psalm 133:1: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”
The National Patriotic Party (NPP) is a major Liberian political party founded in 1997. Operating as a key component of the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), the party is currently working to realign and consolidate its influence, with former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor continuing to serve as its prominent standard-bearer. The NPP was formed in 1997 by members of the former National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) following the end of the First Liberian Civil War.
The party remains a central ally in former President George Manneh Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). While some factions have pushed for the party to pursue an independent stance, party leadership has reaffirmed its commitment to the CDC. The NPP experienced internal divisions between Standard Bearer Jewel Howard-Taylor and National Chairman James Binney, but leadership has worked to overcome these rifts to negotiate a stronger political position moving forward.
