UP, LAP, LUP Sign Merger

MONROVIA – The Unity Party (UP) officially endorsed its Articles of Merger document that brings together the UP, the Liberia Action Party (LAP) and the Liberia Unification Party (LUP) at a convention held over the weekend in Gbarnga, Bong County.

The merger document was initially signed by UP leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and endorsed by the party’s National Executive Committee.

The weekend convention, themed ‘Uniting to UP-lift Liberia’, brought together 25 delegates from each of the 15 political subdivisions of the country and all members of the Executive Committee. In addition to the President and first partisan of the UP, the convention was also attended by and the Vice President, Joseph Boakai as well as the standard bearers, members and officials of the LAP and LUP.

The main objective of the convention was to scrutinize the Articles of Merger document, deliberate on its prospects and subsequently endorse it.

Dr. Henrique Tokpa, president of Cuttington University and UP partisan, served as the keynote speaker. He highlighted the importance of the merger and of youth empowerment in post-war Liberia. He asserted that the union of the three parties further hastens the process of togetherness and the quest to improve the quality of life of all Liberians.

Also addressing the convention, the UP standard bearer reflected on the fight for multiparty democracy, the rule of law and challenges and consequences that befell the three parties (UP, LAP and LUP) during the tyrannical regime of the late president Samuel K. Doe.

She reflected on the visions of the three parties’ founding fathers when they registered the Grand Coalition in 1986 with the sole purpose of commitment to cooperation and collaboration in the body politic of the Republic of Liberia as one entity. The President also highlighted the concern of job creation in every sector and challenged each partisan to absorb two persons into the coalition.

Other speakers related how the founding fathers were humiliated and imprisoned against their constitutional rights at the infamous and notorious Belle Yella detention camp that is now a museum. Two of the founding fathers, Jackson F. Doe of the LAP and William Gabriel Kpolleh of the LUP, lost their lives because of their political standing.

The UP, LAP and LUP were established as political parties in Liberia in 1984 after the military regime of the late president Samuel K. Doe had lifted the ban on political activities. Distinguished revolutionaries such as Binyah Kessely of the UP, the late Jackson F. Doe of the LAP and the late William Gabriel Kpolleh of LUP organized political movements to canvass for political leadership for the 1985 elections, anticipating a democratic environment for free expression to exercise their suffrage.

After the 1985 elections, the idea of a coalition was proffered; and in 1986, it was established as the Grand Coalition and incorporated the UP, LAP and LUP. This was short-lived due to a decision by the Supreme Court of Liberia declaring its (the Coalition’s) activities illegal. It was subsequently banned and prohibited from participating in every public activity and denied the prerogative of a political party within the borders of Liberia.

During the 2005 elections, LAP and LUP joined forces against the UP, who eventually emerged as the winner of the elections.

This idea of working together resurfaced in 2009 and was signed on April 1, 2009 by the leaders of the collaborating political parties.

After hours of deliberation and disagreement at the convention, the accredited delegates representing the 15 counties, along with the Executive Committee, finally endorsed and signed the Articles of Merger and are expected to participate in a joint convention at the end of May this year. The newly merged coalition carries the name Unity Party (UP) with the rooster and handshake as its symbol.