Gbarnga, Bong County – When Consultant Marvin Cole stood beside Nimba County lawmaker Musa Hassan Bility Saturday and hoisted the banner of the Residents Motion of Change (CMC), it marked a daring political flip. However in Bong County — the place political shifts are sometimes learn extra in intent than in motion — one query lingers in hushed conversations and open debates alike: Is Rep. Cole’s transfer a honest ideological shift, or a maneuver for survival in a altering political panorama?
From the surface, the optics of loyalty appear clear — new celebration, new management, and a symbolic handover of Bong County’s “key” to Rep. Bility, the CMC chief. However beneath the floor, political watchers and even a few of Rep. Cole’s closest supporters consider his coronary heart nonetheless beats for the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), the celebration that gave him energy, status, and political id.
“Cole might put on CMC colours now,” remarked one long-time supporter throughout his crossover ceremony, “however everyone knows the place his loyalty lies. This isn’t about Bility — it’s about staying related.”
Liberian politics has lengthy blurred the traces between ideological allegiance and opportunistic repositioning. Rep. Cole’s change to CMC comes at a essential second in his profession — amid scandals, public backlash, and a steep decline in political leverage following the CDC’s fall from energy.
Observers word that the transfer mirrors a sample amongst Liberian politicians who, as soon as minimize off from the state’s useful resource faucet, scramble to affiliate with whoever holds — or is perceived to carry —monetary energy. Rep. Bility, a rich businessman-turned-politician, suits that invoice.
Sources inside Bong County political circles say Rep. Cole, as soon as lavished with pickups, gas, and money below the CDC regime, is now pivoting to Rep. Bility in hopes of replicating the identical patron-client relationship that stored him afloat politically. In blunt phrases, as one insider put it, “Marvin used to chase McGill’s pockets. Now he’s chasing Bility’s.”
Critics of Rep. Cole’s latest transfer body it not as betrayal however as a survival intuition honed inside Liberia’s damaged patronage system. In on-line boards and on radio exhibits, some argue that Rep. Cole is merely exploiting a system that has lengthy allowed politicians to extract from the state — and from one another — with out accountability.
A viral message making the rounds in Bong County learn: “Ought to we even blame Rep. Cole? No. The unfastened cash wasn’t coming from McGill’s pocket. Rep. Cole noticed the opening and navigated. It’s known as stealing from those that stole from the poor by way of the rotten system.”
This narrative could appear jaded, but it surely resonates with a public more and more disillusioned by politics-as-usual. For a lot of Liberians, Rep. Cole’s shift isn’t surprising — it’s anticipated.
Throughout his CMC launch look, the group’s make-up informed its personal story. CDC loyalists have been current in noticeable numbers, many nonetheless carrying CDC paraphernalia. Some admitted they weren’t there for Rep. Bility or the brand new celebration, however for Rep. Cole himself.
“Marvin is our personal. Wherever he goes, we’ll go to assist him,” one attendee informed FrontPageAfrica. “However CDC is our celebration. Don’t confuse the 2.” This separation between political id and private loyalty complicates how Rep. Cole’s shift might be obtained in the long run. Whereas he might drag some supporters alongside to the CMC, it’s unlikely he can construct a brand new base from scratch — particularly if his outdated base sees the transfer as transactional.
What makes this political realignment extra fraught is Rep. Cole’s declining affect. As soon as a robust mobilizer in Bong County, he now struggles with broken credibility. His latest three-month suspension from the Home of Representatives for disorderly conduct has uncovered a brand new vulnerability.
The person who reportedly spent practically a million Liberian {dollars} weekly in his district throughout the CDC regime has been unable to contribute a single to catastrophe victims in latest months. Throughout a violent storm that displaced residents of his district just lately, Rep. Cole was notably absent. Earlier, residents of Gbarmu City accused him of mismanaging social improvement funds tied to the Hurine Mining Firm. Protests turned fiery, with a bridge burned and several other demonstrators arrested. Cole’s identify was on the heart of the fury — not as a consultant, however as a perceived enabler of company neglect.
Insiders from each the CDC and CMC stay skeptical of Rep. Cole’s loyalties. Some throughout the CMC describe him as a political migrant in search of consolation, not conviction. “Marvin is right here,” a CMC supply mentioned, “however is he actually with us? Or simply shopping for time?” In the meantime, in CDC circles, Rep. Cole’s departure is seen much less as abandonment and extra as a brief detour. He stays in contact with CDC figures and has made no public criticisms of the celebration — an indication, analysts say, that he should still be hedging his bets.
Rep. Cole’s story is emblematic of the broader realities of post-election Liberia — a spot the place political migration is much less about coverage and extra about positioning. Whether or not his choice to affix CMC will rejuvenate his profession or mark the start of political irrelevance is but to be decided.
However one factor is evident he’s a politician in transition, working between two events, not sure of the place he actually belongs — or the place he’ll land subsequent. For now, Cole stays an ambiguous determine — caught between ambition and fallout, between loyalty and leverage, between CDC and CMC.
