MONROVIA, Sept. 29 -- For most of the last two decades, Liberia's opposition has had a habit of losing to itself. Parties meet, pledge unity, sign documents, then split over who leads before the ruling party breaks a sweat. So when George Manneh Weah and four other political leaders (Alexander Cummings, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Simeon Freeman and Jonathan Mason) put their names to an eight-page communique on Sunday, the question was not whether they could agree on grievances. That part is easy. The question is whether they have found a way to stay together long enough to matter in 2029.

By Rodney D. Sieh

What the Communique Actually Is

Read closely, the document is two things at once. The first is a charge sheet: Foya and the Guinea b...