Winston Tubman Eyes 2017 Presidency

With the tenure of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf nearing an end leaving slim chances of any incumbent factor, the race to the Executive Mansion in 2017 is gaining momentum and looks to be one of the many elections in which over two dozen candidates lineup for the single slot. Politicians who publicly announced retirement from politics after the 2011 general and Presidential elections are all looking to return to the political theatre with Cllr. Winston Tubman, who served as standard bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in 2011 now announcing Thursday that he is back and ready for politics.

Speaking at a news conference at his Tubman Law office in Monrovia Thursday, Cllr. Tubman, who was expelled and subsequently resigned from active politics has bounced back declaring his candidacy for the 2017 Presidential elections. Cllr. Tubman refused to disclose which political party he will be heading, but admitted that he does not intent to be an independent candidate in the election. The former CDC standard bearer said he has started negotiations with different political parties to form a merger that will enable him replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2017. "Concomitant with this, Liberian politicians must seek political amalgamation and mergers among our political parties which are too numerous for such a small country as ours”, Cllr. Tubman stressed. He noted that there are proliferations of political parties in the Liberian politics, saying, “There are too many political parties that can form few bigger groups that will replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2017. Whether I am a candidate or not, what I can say is that I don’t intend to be an independent candidate I intend to work with all Liberians and political parties to come up with a situation where Liberians can work together to form a bigger group rather than splitting ourselves in so many groups”. Cllr. Tubman called on the government to commit itself to ensuring a peaceful and smooth transition beyond 2017 indicating that renewed vigor, efforts, and energy must be exerted to free the people of Liberia from social, political and economic lethargy. On the issue of political interference in the workings of the National Elections Commission, Cllr. Tubman said the issue has often been raised in many quarters, noting that the government of Liberia and its international partners will be under obligation to ensure that the voices of the Liberian people will be respected when they turn out to decide the future of their country in 2017. He stressed that peaceful, free, fair and credible elections must be the guiding principles of the 2017 democratic transition, and these efforts must begin now. UNMIL Draw Down untimely Judging from the current state of affairs, the Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Somalia has said it will not be a wise decision for UNMIL Troops to depart Liberia. He called on the United Nations to reduce the pace and halt its current troop drawdown plan. “UNMIL must remain in the country at current troop strength to monitor and supervise the processes leading to the 2017 electoral transition”, he said. Not decisive on corruption Cllr. Tubman also said President Sirleaf administration has not been able to deal effectively and decisively with corruption, adding that many incidences can be referenced regarding the failure of the current leadership to deal with corruption and the abuse of power. He said there is considerable interference by the powers that be in the application of the law and the administration of Justice particularly in cases involving corruption and the abuse of power. Cllr. Tubman wants Liberia as a country to remain grateful and committed to solidifying its existing good ties with the international community; especially for the huge unprecedented response which they gave to the country. Liberians beat Ebola The former Standard Beare of the CDC explained that the people of Liberia rose to the occasion in their fight against Ebola, asserting that even though it took some time; but Liberians realized that Ebola presented a threat as it did to people national survival. "We pulled our forces together; we took charge of the crisis and became obedient to the prevention protocols; there in particular, Liberia’s and Africa’s first elected Mother President defied the international experts of doom when she declared that Liberians shall not die; that Liberians would whip Ebola! Only a mother could have spoken thus! Almost miraculously, we began to reverse the trend of transmission; this, more than anything else, is what has got us to the hopeful circumstance where we are today," Cllr. Tubman stated. He said when distrust and mistrust characterized the relationship that existed between the Government and the people the effect was the Government breaking through barriers of distrust in order to convince the people that indeed Ebola was real, and that it presented an imminent deadly threat.