By Festus Poquie
President Joseph Boakai hatches plans to expand his base within the House of Representatives as his ruling Unity Party Alliance sits in minority.
On the Weekend of April 20, the President hosted what his office called “Brainstorming Retreat” with dozens of House members in the hometown of the First Lady in Western Bomi County, nearly 70 kilometers from the capital Monrovia.
Top Unity Party leaders and strategists were party of the Tubmanbury meeting.
The select lawmakers dubbed Rescue Legislative Caucus will primary function as agents of the presidency, create smooth landing for bills from the Executive and woo elected Representatives who are not member of the President’s party, a statement on the official Facebook account of the President’s office said Sunday, referencing a certain resolution agreed with the House members.
“In their quest to build support for the Agenda, the parties undertook to enlist colleagues in the Legislature and other segments of the population to embrace the Agenda.
“President Boakai highlighted critical themes in the Agriculture Road Rule of Law Education Sanitation & Tourism (ARREST) Agenda which he said needed to be vigorously pursued by proper messaging and the encouragement of other legislators to support the call of nation building.
“The working session brought together more than 20 members of the House of Representatives as they spent hours deliberating on approaches and methods of pushing key points in the legislative agenda as well as a lineup of other development goals of the Government.
President Boakai’s flagship development agenda- ARREST is a comprehensive approach to uplift the country’s socio-economic conditions by ensuring food security, improving road infrastructure and education.
While the document encourages coordinated and purposeful working relationship between the executive and legislative branches to achieve these development goals, the President decision to restrict discussion with select lawmakers excluding the House’s leadership, opens rooms for suspicion and the sincere nature of his approach.
House Speaker Fonati Koffa is a member of the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change who currently enjoys multi-party support in the legislature. Boakai in recent days was accused of plotting to remove the Speaker.
Representative Richard Koon, the President’ s favorite for the role who lost the Speaker race in January is the man put in charge to solidify the Executive influence in the Legislature.
According to the presidency, Koon signed the resolution reached with the President for members of the Rescue Legislative Caucus to execute assigned tasks, while Acting Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Samuel A. Stevquoah signed for the Administration. Unity Party Vice Chairman for Governmental Affairs & International Relations, Ben Fofana, signed for the Unity Party.
Ensuring coordination and smooth communication among them, they recommended and it was approved by the President that Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of State Cornelia Kruah-Togba, serves as the Liaison, the statement said.
