- Describes it as diabolical effort
The Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) has strongly criticized the “We Taya Suffering Rally” that will be held on December 17 and asked its supporters not to go.
In a press statement released in Monrovia on December 15, 2022, the Chairman of the Party denounced the rally and requested that all MOVEE’s partisans, supporters, sympathizers, and well-wishers refrain from taking part in any form of protest or demonstration.
“MOVEE also encourages the organizers to gain wisdom from the positive examples of constructive engagement and peaceful discourse that have been provided.”
Chairman Robert M. Sammie said he felt compelled to restate his party’s position regarding protest, demonstration, militancy, and political violence, stating that supporters and partisans of his party all over the country were seeking political direction with regards to the “We Taya Suffering Protest” that is being organized by people he called “some of our friends in the opposition.”
“Permit me to remind you, my dear friends, of the position of the New MOVEE in relation to protest or demonstration. This position was stated by our political leader when he accepted the duty of playing the role of a political leader in MOVEE on October 8, 2022, and it has become a standing order to guide our actions,” the chairman said.
Mr. Sammie said the MOVEE, under the acute leadership of H.E. Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., takes a firm stance against any political action that has the potential to disrupt the relative peace that has prevailed in Liberia in the years since the end of the country’s civil war.
“Nobody needs to be told that the post-COVID-19 crisis, coupled with the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine, has manifested itself into different challenges for governments across the world, and that these challenges cannot be solved by mobilizing people to stage protests.” “It is recorded that opposition members in other nations who try to utilize the global crisis for their personal political advantage are desperate for power and willing to do anything to acquire it,” he said.
MOVEE said that although holding peaceful demonstrations is an essential component of democracies, Liberia has not had much success with them.
“The infamous rice riot that took place in 1979 is a striking example of the political history of protest in Liberia.” When it comes to deciding how to proceed with present concerns, we cannot disregard these historical facts. If so-called peaceful protests have been unsuccessful in the past, there is no guarantee that the rally that will take place on December 17, 2022, will be any different.
The party chairman said a demonstration cannot substitute for a practical public policy suggestion from the opposition that should be intended to solve a public problem.
He reaffirmed that his party would approach politics in a different manner by insisting on the use of ideological and philosophical competition to win over her adversaries.
He indicated that MOVEE is of the opinion that it is in the best interest of all Liberians for the government to be successful in delivering its fiduciary responsibilities, stating that it is the people who really suffer when a government fails to meet its obligations, and MOVEE believes that this should not be the case.
“Therefore, organizing a protest with the intention of undermining the work being done by the government is a diabolical act that masquerades as an effort to protect the people from experiencing hardship,” he said.
MOVEE’s Chairman expressed confidence that positive engagement and dialogue on national issues can lead to the development of long-term solutions to challenges facing the public.
Chairman Sammie said his party is always willing to talk about public policy with political parties that share MOVEE’s values in order to come up with action-oriented solutions to public problems.
