(LINA) – The 2016 National Convention of the ruling Unity Party (UP) Thursday commenced in Gbarnga, Bong County with over three thousand partisans, well-wishers and sympathizers of the party from across the country and the Diaspora in attendance.
The convention is being held in the Gbarnga administration building and will run up to Saturday, July 9, and will witness the election of several partisans, including the Standard Bearer, to steer the affairs of the party as the 2017 elections approach.
The Chairperson of the Convention Committee, Representative Prince Moye, told a jubilant UP crowd at the formal opening of the convention that the exercise is also intended to unite the party and better prepare it for the 2017 elections.
Representative Moye said the Unity Party convention committee has put in place the necessary mechanisms to strengthen collaboration and the spirit of reconciliation within the party.
The Bong County lawmaker said the UP is using the opportunity of the three-day Gbarnga convention to hear from all of its partisans to further strengthen the party.
He noted that the top priority of the convention is to unite UP partisans to better prepare for the upcoming 2017 elections.
He noted that elections for the national leadership of the party will be held on Friday, July 8.
“Already, Vice President Joseph Boakai is going unopposed for the standard bearer position and Wilmot Paye is unopposed for the National chairmanship position of the Unity Party. The other positions have partisans who have already announced their intention to contest and we can assure all that the elections commission headed by Representative Clarence Massaquoi will conduct free, fair and transparent elections,” Moye said.
The convention is also being graced by several senior partisans of the UP, including the Standard Bearer, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Vice Standard Bearer Joseph Boakai, National Chairman Cllr. Varney G. Sherman and Secretary General Wilmot Paye.
