APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The former leader of the defunct rebel Liberians United for Reconstruction and Development (LURD) Seku Damate Conneh has pledged his support for former warlord Prince Johnson’s presidential bid, media reports said here Thursday. Addressing reporters in Monrovia on Wednesday, Mr. Conneh said he would support the former leader of the defunct Independent National Patriotic Front (INPFL) in next year’s presidential race.

Mr. Conneh, who is standard bearer of the PRODEM political party, however said he would support any proposal for a political coalition ahead of the 2011 elections. In another development, Mr. Conneh, now a businessman says President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s declaration to contest the 2011 election should be seen as a challenge to all politicians.

Mr. Conneh said the President’s declaration must inspire all politicians to prepare themselves and move the process of democracy forward. President Sirleaf’s recent declaration that he would contest the forthcoming presidential poll has sparked off criticisms and debates in all quarters of Liberian society, with opposition politicians demanding an apology from the president.

They maintain that the forum at which the declaration was made-the state of the nation address to the national legislature- was not appropriate for such a declaration.