Mamma
Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), has said the GDC would
never challenge the December 1 Presidential election results.
He
made this remark on Friday at a press conference held at the Baobab Hotel and
Resort.
Kandeh
added that “the position of the Gambia Democratic Congress does not change”,
because they were defeated by the president-elect, Adama Barrow, and are,
therefore, not going to challenge the results of the December 1 presidential
election, after accepting defeat.
He
said the GDC has a very important role to play in the current political impasse
The Gambia is facing
“We
want to emphasise clearly that the problem we are facing can be resolved
peacefully, as we are not encouraging any form of violence or military
intervention within or outside of the country because our situation can be
solved on the table,” he emphasised.
He
said what is happening is that The Gambia has a constitution which he believes
every Gambian respects, because the constitution is allowing Gambians to go to
the polls every five years to select and vote for a candidate of their choice,
and Gambians did just that by electing Adama Barrow as the president.
Therefore,
he added, every Gambian respects what the constitution says, and that was why
all of the three candidates for the December 1 Presidential election went to
the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to be nominated by fulfilling all
the requirements the IEC requested for.
All
this, he went on, is a form of exercising one’s rights as a citizen of a
country, and the same constitution also stated that if the incumbent is
defeated he should hand power within 60 days; that is why Adama Barrow was not
sworn in immediately as the president, after winning the election.
He
said both the Coalition and President Jammeh should respect the constitution.
Many
a time, both President-elect Barrow and President Jammeh would talk of peace
and unconditional love for Gambians, Kandeh continued.
“Let
them open the line of communication and talk in a form of dialogue so that the
problem will be solved within, because there is no given situation in the
country Gambians cannot resolve.”
Kandeh
added: “I’m calling on President Jammeh and President-elect Barrow, and
including the GDC to come together and give a lending hand to amnesty and
resolve our differences peacefully, on our own without foreign intervention.”