Rivalry Over Jobs

An apparent disagreement has erupted between President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and partisans of the Unity Party, who are accusing her of violating Article 17 of UP’s constitution, which calls for consultation with partisans before appointments are made in government.

Meantime, opposition politicians are expressing concern about their alleged exclusion in government following her promise to form a government of inclusion.

UP partisans are also dissatisfied about their exclusion in senior government positions, and called the party’s Secretary General, Mr. Wilmot Paye to reject his nomination as Deputy Commerce Minister for Administration.

Asked whether he was rejecting the nomination as demanded by his partisans, Mr. Paye said he will decide after meeting with President Sirleaf ahead of his senate confirmation hearing.

But reacting to the qualms of UP partisans about making appointments without prior consultations with the party hierarchy, President Sirleaf told journalists in Voinjama that the reappointments thus far are in the right direction.

“You know I am doing the right thing. When the opposition says I am not appointing them and when Unity Party says I am not appointing them,” the President told Executive Mansion journalists in Presidential Palace in Voinjama.

She, however, said the fact that both her partisans and the opposition have accused her of their exclusion in appointments, that is a balance that “I’m doing is not wrong”.

But the President indicated that in keeping with her campaign promises of inclusion, accommodation is ongoing: “Quite frankly we have been trying to accommodate them,” she said.

Acknowledging concerns of Unity Party supporters that they are supposed to have the biggest share in government, she noted:  “We promised to have an inclusive government and we have to strike a balance”.

However, she urged UP partisans to “bear in mind now the government is still being formed. We have just ministerial level”.

The President explained that many of the young people  “want jobs and we try to accommodate them, including Unity Partisans at levels that are commensurate with their qualification”.

She said the nomination will have to commensurate with their experience, but “they should bear patience and wait and see how this whole thing unfolds”.