• Prince Johnson: ‘Liberia Will Go Back to War If Weah Becomes President’, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Simeon Freeman Accuses Presidential Debate Organizers of USD10K Extortion, Source: FrontPage Africa
• ‘Security Pivotal for Liberia’s Growth’ –Senator Oscar Cooper, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• “We Deserve Better In This Country” – Henry Costa, Source: FrontPage Africa
• MOVEE Questions Validity of IPP Election Polls, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• ANC Candidate Warns Electorates to Avoid Electoral Complacency, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Former PUL President Massaley Says: “President Sirleaf Failed to Lead”, Source: FrontPage Africa
• ‘Definitely Not Going There’: Weah to Skip Second Liberia Presidential Debate, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa
• Ex-football star Weah hopes to lead change in Liberia, Sources: AFP, Daily Mail Online, and Word Soccer Talk
• Deepening Democracy or Butchering Democracy: A Call for Sanity in the Liberian Media, Source: The Perspective

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Prince Johnson: ‘Liberia Will Go Back to War If Weah Becomes President’, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Presidential candidate Prince Johnson of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction has described Senator George Weah, presidential candidate of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) as someone who is unable to control his followers, and as such, he warns that any decision to elect him as President of Liberia will send the country back to war.  Senator Johnson in an interview over the weekend on the recent fracas in Sanniquellie, Nimba County between partisans of the CDC and Liberty Party, said it was unacceptable for anyone to go to his county, Nimba, to shed blood.

Simeon Freeman Accuses Presidential Debate Organizers of USD10K Extortion, Source: FrontPage Africa

Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) presidential candidate, Simeon Freeman, has accused the organizers of the ongoing Presidential debate, Deepening Democracy Coalition (DDC) of an attempt to extort USD10,000 from the party for its participation in the presidential debate slated for today Tuesday. MPC in a statement released on Monday said that prior the conduct of the first phase of the presidential debate, those desiring of undertaking such task ought to divest themselves of partisanship and extortion of finances in order to attract public confidence.

“Interestingly, because such debate is not a genuine effort to enable voters to make better choices, the organizers have elected to limit the platform to a few Presidential candidates who have agreed to be victims of financial exploitation.

According to the MPC, like the Ducor Debates, the DDC has a moral duty to create an open field for the competition of ideas and the marketing of different agendas of those seeking the nation’s highest seat.

‘Security Pivotal for Liberia’s Growth’ –Senator Oscar Cooper, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Independent presidential candidate Senator Oscar Cooper has reiterated his stance that the exorbitant salaries and allowances of members of the legislature be reduced and directed to the welfare of civil servants, especially the security sector – a very pivotal sector that needs immediate and adequate attention. Senator Cooper said that funds deducted from lawmakers should be primarily allocated to not just security personnel but teachers and medical workers.

The independent presidential candidate spoke at one of the Ducor Debates for presidential candidates held over the weekend at the University of Liberia Fendall Campus. He said lucrative salaries and incentives for civil servants, especially security personnel, remain one of his priorities if he is elected president on October 10.

“We Deserve Better In This Country” – Henry Costa, Source: FrontPage Africa

Montserrado County Electoral District #6 Representative aspirant, Henry Costa, has vowed to create better living conditions for residents of the district if elected as representative in the upcoming elections in October. Speaking at his political campaign launch Saturday, Mr. Costa said: “You see me, I am a young man, 35 years old. I don’t know plenty book but this is what I know—I know right from wrong; I know injustice from justice; I know inequality from equality and I know suffering and I know enjoyment. And I know one thing—I know that we deserve better in this country, and we must demand better in this country.”

Costa, who is contesting on the ticket of the All Liberian Party said as part of his policy to meet the needs of residents in the district, he will give 30% of his salary and benefits to the district for development, emphasizing that the development agenda of the district remains his key priority.

MOVEE Questions Validity of IPP Election Polls, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer reports that the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) over the weekend challenged the validity of the International Political Polls’ (IPP) election polls. MOVEE’s vice chairman for communications and media relations, Robert Sammie  said though establishing a system of opinion polls to predict election outcomes is a conventional concept that has worked in many countries around the world, it is  strange that recent pollsters in Liberia are rather a miserable or a sad story to the forward march of our fledgling democratic process.

 “IPP seems to be a mere propaganda deployed to spew falsehood into the public domain, thinking that would be a drawback from the popularity of other potential presidential candidates, particularly our standard bearer, who is regarded by people in every county to be the most suited, experienced, caring, qualified candidate, in this presidential race,” Mr. Sammie said.

ANC Candidate Warns Electorates to Avoid Electoral Complacency, Source: FrontPage Africa

Montserrado County Electoral District #3 representative candidate Patrick Komoyan has warned his supporters to avoid the normal complacency syndrome practiced by most followers who are carried away by the crowd.  Mr. Komoyan said instead of relying on the huge crowd factor, it would be important that electorates, most especially his supporters hold together in ensuring the kind of change needed in the district. His comment follows his official campaign launch that displayed huge followers on Saturday.

Former PUL President Massaley Says: “President Sirleaf Failed to Lead”, Source: FrontPage Africa

Former Press Union of Liberia (PUL) president, Abraham Massaley says President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf used "soft power" to keep the legislature in check and the students quiet but grossly neglected to lead. Mr. Massaley said the president was presented with the best opportunity for Liberia's development than any other Liberian president but said she squandered that golden opportunity, pointing out that her government will be best remembered for corruption.

According to the former PUL president,  the greatest threat to peace and stability now facing Liberia is the uncontrollable corruption, noting that the government under President Sirleaf has become a cash cow for public officials.

Massaley made the statement recently when he delivered the keynote address at the Third Annual Convention of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) in Newark, Delaware, USA.

‘Definitely Not Going There’: Weah to Skip Second Liberia Presidential Debate, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

A spokesman for presidential candidate George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has confirmed to FrontPage Africa that opposition politician will not be participating in the second and final Liberia presidential debate set for today Tuesday. Mr. Sam Mannah said due to an invitation from the EU, Senator Weah will not be attending although organizers listed him along with six others to participate in the discourse.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Ex-football star Weah hopes to lead change in Liberia, Sources: AFP, Daily Mail Online, and Word Soccer Talk

Former football star and presidential hopeful George Weah on Monday called for a change in Liberia and said he was confident ahead of next month’s election in the west African nation. 

The first African player to win both FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or, Weah unsuccessfully ran as a presidential candidate in 2005, when he was defeated by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He also ran as a vice-presidential candidate in 2011 but his running mate lost to Sirleaf.

“We are confident,” Weah told AFP ahead of the October 10 election, when 20 candidates will vie to lead Liberia which is returning to normalcy after two devastating back-to-back civil wars.

Deepening Democracy or Butchering Democracy: A Call for Sanity in the Liberian Media, Source: The Perspective

These elections are a watershed in the history of our country. The elections either consolidate the fragile peace the country is experiencing, amidst the poverty and unemployment or retrogress it in the cesspit of backwardness. Keen on which direction the country moves hinge on the collective decision we make as a people of this space named Liberia. These elections are critical as our collective destiny is tied to the outcome of the process. 

The Fourth Estate (the Press, media, news outlets) as any superstructure of society has a peculiar role to play in manning the process in a way that the people will make a rational decision from an informed and well-thought perspective. Universally, this is the role the media ought to play, and must do so with a keen eye on the national interest. The press can be a force for good or bad. In most African countries the gross irresponsibility of certain elements in the media has led to a genocidal altercation in Rwanda and tribal wrestling in Kenya.

In Liberia the situation is quite appalling and mindboggling, most of the individuals in this noble profession are not interested in elevating the national narrative at an appreciable level where the issues that matter can be discussed by the candidates. In honest, the genuine conversation has been receded to the dungeon while the inflammatory blabbing of personality has taken center stage in the media landscape.