Yes, the year 2003 is here! This is the year in which the fickle and flaky Liberian people think they are going to see their dreams turn into realities. This is the year in which Charles Taylor, the fugitive from justice, and the embezzler president of Liberia, is expected to risk his absolute power over the Liberian people, and his stolen wealth, to allow for a free and fair elections to be conducted in Liberia. This is the year in which the Liberian people are going to learn, for the first time, that voting in elections does not only mean putting papers in ballot boxes, but knowing also the ramifications of that simple act. This is the year in which Charles Taylor, the man who does not care a scintilla about the Liberian people, is going to realize that ‘one can not fool all the people all of the time.' This is the year in which Liberian politicians are going to learn, finally, that everybody and anybody cannot be president of Liberia in the 21st century. This is the year in which the Liberian people are going to learn, for the first time, that ‘those who can not learn the lesson of history are bound to repeat it'.
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Charles Taylor
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We made a big blunder by putting Samuel K. Doe, an idiot, in power to solve the Liberian problems. We made a bigger blunder by electing Charles Taylor, a psychopath, some one who has a criminal past, and a criminal mind, to the presidency of Liberia. We stand to make our greatest blunder, this time, if we let Charles Taylor remain in power; or elect somebody who is in it for the money and absolute power, and not for the welfare of the Liberian people. This is the year in which the Liberian people are going to start believing in their own Liberian maxim: "What can you expect from a hog, but a grunt?" "Leopard does not change its spot". This is the year in which the Liberian people are going to realize, for the first time, that ‘the past determined the presence, the presence will determine the future.' This is the year in which, I hope, the Liberian people have learned that nobody changes his behavior – once a thieve (rogue), you will always be a thieve (rogue). Charles Taylor is a typical case in point. No amount of title changes can change one's personality and behavior. That is a proven fact. This is the year in which the Liberian people have learned that criminals have the capacity to be one step smarter than their victims. The crimes they commit or things they do are planned and calculated.
I know some people will say that I am being hard on the Liberian people. Really, the people I am talking to in this article are not the 85 percent illiterate population of Liberia. The people I am really addressing are the pseudo intellectuals, the big time Liberian lawyers, and our hopeful presidential candidates/politicians.
Now, let me make a statement here, which I intend to hold onto until somebody convinces me otherwise. There will not be any free and fair elections conducted in 2003 in Liberia, if Charles Taylor is a candidate for president.
I am going to list reasons, in the form of questions, for my statement:
1. Charles Taylor has declared that he will enforce the ten-Year residency requirement clause in the constitution. Are there lawyers in Liberia with guts to challenge the unconstitutionality of this clause?
2. Charles Taylor is incarcerating people left and right charging them with treason. Was he exempt from the same charges of treason when he took up arms against the Liberian Government of Mr. Doe in 1989?
3. Allegedly, Charles Taylor was elected president of Liberia pursuant to an agreement to have special elections signed by him and the opposition parties. Shouldn't that agreement be made public for legal Examinations? The question of legitimacy would be answered once and for all if that examination were performed.
4. Liberians living abroad can not vote or run for Public office; is that constitutional? What Constitution are we dealing with, anyway?
5. What is the latest census figures in Liberia today? When the talk is about democracy, shouldn't the number of people taking part in the election process be known?
6. How many registered voters are there among the latest census figures?
7. How will the elections be funded? In a democratic process, I think, the people have the right to know how their elected leaders are funded and by whom.
8. The 2003 elections have been scheduled for October 14, 2003. Yet the Charles Taylor's administration is not permitting any political activities up to now. Is that constitutional? Whose role is it to control the time for election activities? Is it the administration's or the Election Commission?
9. Those who are planning to become president of Liberia, how do you plan to pull Liberia out of its Financial ruins?
10. Fellow Liberians, what kind of people are we? Are we a people in denial, or does stupidity have something
to do with it?
