MONROVIA, Monrovia – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent comments to the United Nations General Assembly on Liberia needing ‘generational change’ has been interpreted by the public in several different ways, forcing her to provide clarification on what she meant.

During the address, Sirleaf emphasized the need for generational change in the country, leading some pundits to conclude that the president was suggesting that she would lend her support to a younger candidate, not the standard bearer of her Unity Party.

MacDella Cooper, the standard bearer of the Liberia Restoration Party and the youngest candidate in the race, even went as far as suggesting that Sirleaf was supporting her bid for the presidency.

“President Sirleaf’s recent statement is a clear endorsement for me, the only female candidate in the ensuing presidential race, because I am the youngest contender among the men, and so I am the one who is going to bring that generational change the President is referring to,” she said.

On the other hand, Sen. Prince Y. Johnson of Nimba, who is also the 65-year-old standard bearer of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, did not take kindly to the president’s statement.

“If that is what Sirleaf believes, then she should have given the change to George Weah, the standard bearer of the Coalition for Democratic Change, who was the youngest in the 2011 presidential elections to lead the country,” he said.

Johnson said young people need to be more mature before taking over the mantle of authority, adding “politics is not for children.”

Upon Sirleaf’s arrival on Monday, she told journalists at the Roberts International Airport in Margibi that her comments were blown out of proportion.

She said the numerous ministers in her government signify that the youthful population is at the center stage of national decision-making, noting that her comments “were not in any way directed at anyone.”

Sirleaf said Liberia is currently experiencing the generational change.

“The public should stop making mountains out of hills,” Sirleaf urged the public.

Featured photo by Zeze Evans Ballah