The Brumskine-Urey Team - Who Will Surrender?
Written by Philip N. Wesseh - The Inquirer
It is often said that "man is a political being" and so whenever they meet in a gathering or anywhere, the issue of politics is always part of the discussions. Although the next presidential election is set for 2017, and that no one has yet been qualified by the National Elections Commission (NEC) for the process, as "political beings," some Liberians always make it their duty to discuss the possible candidates for the racer come that time. Just yesterday, I was fortunate to uninvitingly bump into a discussion by some females who were discussing the possible meager of the former political leader of the Liberty Party , Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine and Liberian businessman Benoni Urey, now of the Congress For Democratic Change (CDC) as a strong team during the 2017 presidential elections.
Observably, as I listened to the women, I noticed that their discussions stemmed from two major incidents. The first relates to the recent declaration by Mr. Urey that he might contest for the presidency during the 2017 elections. Mr. Urey, few days ago, told THE INQUIRER that he has an ambition to contest the 2017 presidential and general elections. Urey is a member of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of Amb. George Weah. But when our reporter asked him whether he would be the standard bearer of the CDC in 2017 despite the position of Mr. Weah as the political leader of the party, Mr. Urey said at the appropriate time, the Liberian people will decide but what concerns him most is to do everything to ensure that Amb. Weah wins the Senatorial seat of Montserrado County in the October 2014 Senatorial election.
The second issue, as I observed was based on a call by someone that Mr. Urey should "give account of how he amassed his wealth." Even though I did not hear that call on any radio I was told that a prominent woman in the society had made this call, days after Mr. Urey reportedly announced his intention to join the presidential race in 2017. Some of the women, who spoke as if they were Urey's private accountants or auditors, stood in his defense that he deserves what he got.
It was while discussing the debate about his wealth or riches that the issue of he and Cllr. Brumskine cropped up. The females said that such a team would be formidable if they agree to form such a team. But the million dollar question that lingers on the minds of the women is who will be the presidential or vice presidential candidate. This was the sticky issue during the females' discussion on this possible strong ticket. They argued that since Cllr. Brumskine is an 'old hand' in the business of politics and had contested twice before he should stand as the presidential candidate for the team. For others, they want Mr. Urey, since Brumskine did not make it in two different attempts.
With this variance on the issue, another sticky issue rested on the side of Cllr. Brumskine who contested two times and may be faced with succumbing to be the vice standard bearer, as this would be seen as a demotion. But someone cited the case of Amb. George Weah, who once contested as standard bearer of the CDC and during the last election contested as vice standard bearer of the party to Cllr. Winston Tubman. But one of the discussants said, Brumskine is different from Weah. Up to the time I left the women there was no unanimity on who will become the standard bearer or vice standard bearer should the two decide to merge.
In all fairness, while I wish not to join in this debate to make a suggestion on who will be or not but one thing I am sure of is that, should these two men decide to embark on this, the decision of who should be what or not will be a tough one. Will Brumskine who contested two times be willing to give in to Mr. Urey, or will Urey be willing to lend support to Brumskine for the third time? Although Cllr. Brumskine has resigned as the political leader of the party, there are strong indications and omens that he may contest, come 2017 for the presidency. I Rest My Case.
