Intimidation Meets Resilience: When State Power Can’t Quell Party Spirit—Weah Supporters Defy the Odds
- Michael T
- Sep 22
- 1 min read
Updated: Sep 27
Partisans of Opposition Congress of Democratic Change (CDC) gathered with anticipation at Roberts International Airport on Monday to welcome Former President George M. Weah after being away for several weeks, responding to his explicit call—circulated on CDC social media platforms—that all supporters remain peaceful. But the only predictable part of the day was the Liberian police’s heavy-handed response: officers sealed off the airport, lobbed tear gas into harmless crowds, and detained individuals who offered little more than celebratory songs and patriotic fervor.
Police on the ground cited “102 instructions” as the justification for aggressive tactics, a euphemism that has become shorthand for arbitrary orders from above. The scene was textbook: barriers set far from the main terminal, party loyalists pinned at a distance, chaos breaking out not from the crowd but from authorities determined to display control.
This saga exposes a pattern all too familiar in Liberia—security forces are swift to intimidate and harass opposition gatherings even when those assembled pose no credible threat. The spectacle of peaceful citizens facing riot shields for the “crime” of welcoming a former president suggests a government anxious about optics, not order.
For Liberians looking for proof of democratic maturity, such tactics reveal a regime more invested in managing its critics than embracing the right to dissent. The result: another dark mark on Liberia’s claim to open democracy and political tolerance.
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