National Patriotic Party

The National Patriotic Party (NPP) is a political party in Liberia. It was formed in 1997 by members of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia following the end of the First Liberian Civil War.

The party contested the 1997 general election, with the NPFL's leader, Charles Taylor, serving as the party's presidential candidate. Taylor won the presidential election with 75% of the vote. The party also won 49 of 64 seats in the House of Representatives and 21 of 26 in the Senate. Due to domestic and international pressure as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War, Taylor stepped down as president in August 2003. In October of that year, Taylor's successor, Moses Blah, and the members of the Legislature resigned and ceded power to the National Transitional Government of Liberia.

The party later contested the 2005 general election. The party's presidential candidate was Roland Massaquoi, who earned 4.1% of the vote. The NPP also won four seats in the House of Representatives and another four in the Senate.

The party was a member of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) during the 2011 Liberian general election, and joined the CDC's boycott of the runoff election in protest due to partisan politicians being named to the National Elections Commission (NEC) and demanding the resignation of NEC Chairman James Fromayan.

The party's 2016 convention was held in Buchanan, Liberia. The main topic was the influence held by Jewel Howard-Taylor, who served in an official capacity as the party's "Standard Bearer." Prior to the convention she was able to negotiate a coalition with George Weah's CDC to see Taylor elected Vice President of Liberia during the 2017 Liberian general election. Additionally, she also organized a meeting to change the party's constitution, greatly enhancing her powers to basically rule the NPP by decree.

During the 2017 election it was found that Charles Taylor was continuing to guide the party via phone calls from prison. Weah and the NPP party structure denied this, stating that Charles Taylor has no influence over Weah, the NPP, or his ex-wife Jewel Howard-Taylor.

In 2018, party chairman James Biney, angered by Taylor's meddling with the party, issued a resolution expelling Taylor, as well as John Gray, who she installed as chairman, from the party, and recommending to George Weah to remove her from the position of Vice President. Biney has made it clear that his faction of the NPP is unhappy with their position in the CDC and the CDC's continued support of Taylor and her faction of the NPP as opposed to the legitimate faction and leadership of the NPP and threatened the CDC with their withdrawal. This has led to a split in many county affiliates, namely the Maryland County branch developing two rival leaderships, one supporting Taylor and another supporting Biney. In 2019 the CDC seriously considered removing Taylor from the office of vice president, with Mulbah Morlu, chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change suggesting she be replaced with the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill, however, backed off following backlash from the pro-Taylor NPP, namely chairwoman of the NPP's woman wing and Bong County superintendent Esther Walker, and the NPP Bong county chairman James Dorbor Sao and vice chairman for administration Paul Wheeler.

In 2020 Agnes Reeves Taylor, ex-wife of Charles Taylor, returned to Liberia after the dismissal of her war crime charges. Biney's NPP welcomed her return with a parade and a rally, championing her as the "true mother" of the NPP, and seeking to tap her for a leadership role to mitigate the influence of Jewel Howard-Taylor.