Six Opposition Parties Form Steering Committee After Weah-Hosted Roundtable
Former President George Weah in 2019 (file photo; not from this roundtable). Photo: U.S. Embassy Monrovia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Six of Liberia's opposition parties agreed to set up a joint steering committee to coordinate ahead of 2029, but the unity push showed early cracks after CDC and NPP officials publicly disputed who was actually invited.
Six of Liberia's opposition parties agreed on Sunday to establish a joint steering committee after a roundtable hosted by former President George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) at the Jamaica Resort in Thinker's Village, Paynesville. The Alternative National Congress, Citizens Movement for Change, Movement for Progressive Change, Movement for Economic Empowerment and All Liberian Party also took part, alongside former House Speakers J. Alex Tyler and Bhofal Chambers.
The steering committee will include two representatives from each participating party and is tasked with drafting a framework document setting out how the parties will coordinate on national issues going forward. Organizers were careful to stress that the arrangement is not an electoral alliance and does not amount to an agreement on a joint candidate for the 2029 presidential election, only a foundation for political cooperation. The parties plan to reconvene within two weeks to continue the discussions.
Alternative National Congress leader Alexander Cummings framed the effort as an accountability push rather than a campaign alliance: "They are in power, and they are managing our resources. We will unite and be the voice of the Liberian people in holding the government accountable."
The unity push is already showing familiar strain. National Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman George Mulbah said his party had declined an invitation to the roundtable, but CDC Secretary-General Jefferson Koijee flatly denied the party was ever invited, saying only a few individual NPP members received personal invitations and accusing Mulbah of misrepresenting the situation. The exchange is a reminder of how fragile past opposition unity efforts have been, including a failed 2016 attempt and the collapse of the Collaborating Political Parties coalition, as well as the CDC's own history with the NPP, which governed together as the Coalition for Democratic Change from 2017 to 2024.