Joseph N. Jallah Says Liberia Needs More Than an Alliance Built to Defeat the Ruling Party

Lofa County Senator Joseph N. Jallah is warning opposition parties not to make defeating the governing Unity Party the sole purpose of an alliance ahead of Liberia’s 2029 elections. In remarks reported on November 3, 2026, he urged political leaders to put national development and shared principles ahead of a contest for power. Jallah’s comments came amid discussion of Unity Party Chairman Luther Tarpeh’s description of political parties as “main verbs” and “helping verbs.” The senator said talk of cooperation shows renewed interest in opposition unity, but also highlights questions about leadership, political identity and independence. Some parties, he noted, want broader collaboration without losing their distinct identities, while others are wary of being pushed into subordinate roles. He said negotiations should be about ideas and national interests rather than dividing up positions. Liberia, he argued, does not need an arrangement whose only aim is “Let us defeat them”; voters deserve a coalition with a plan to build the country and address its development challenges. Jallah also used Tarpeh’s grammatical analogy to make a point about political power. A party seeking to govern may act as the “main verb,” he said, but that status does not give it ownership of the political “sentence.” He stressed that Liberia’s multiparty system includes more than the governing Unity Party and the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change, and that smaller parties should not be dismissed. According to Jallah, political maturity means accepting partnerships even when one party is dominant. He added that winning office brings obligations beyond electoral victory, including accountability, consultation and delivering results for citizens. The senator’s message, as reported, was that an effective political alliance should be judged by the ideas and responsibilities it offers—not simply by the opponent it hopes to remove.