Guinea Bissau Political Heavyweights Meet In Banjul

The Vice-President, Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, has called on the presidential candidates in the forthcoming Guinea-Bissau Presidential election to respect the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed on 6th November 2008.

Vice-President Njie-Saidy made this remark yesterday at a meeting held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi, where representatives of political parties and presidential candidates of the Republic of Guinea Presidential candidates met to discuss about the situation in Guinea-Bissau and the June 28th 2009 elections.

The meeting was held in Banjul on the invitation of President Jammeh. In attendance were Momodou Yaya Jallow of the New Democratic Party (PND), representative of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), Jquaishla Da Costa and Maria Rosa who represented her husband, the former interim President, from 2003 to 2005, Henrique Peirera Rosa, who is an independent candidate. They both spoke at the meeting.

Vice President Njie-Saidy asserted that President Jammeh is always very concerned about the situation in Guinea-Bissau. As she put it, it was not the first time to hold such a meeting here.

"We should all be concerned about the instability, the state of democracy and human rights in Guinea-Bissau. If we believe that we are a global family, one global world, instability in any part of the world should be a concern for all," she remarked.

She further stated that all religious leaders and the National Assembly Members of Guinea-Bissau have a role to play. She noted that "they are part of the solution as they are part of the problem".

"Please respect the voice of the people, the outcome of the election because the people would decide in the final analysis," she added

She also challenged the Guinea-Bissau electoral commission to ensure that a free and fair election take place, urging all and sundry to give their blessings to the success of the forthcoming elections, in particular the international community.

The preamble of the MOU states:

"We, the leaders of the governing party, being the governing party in Guinea Bissau, and other parties, registered by the Comisao National Electoral (National Electoral Commission) for the purpose of contesting election, do hereby agree to put the past behind us, and in the higher interest of Guinea Bissau, to work constructively towards national reconciliation and the consolidation of democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Guinea Bissau."

Other speakers at the occasion included Mr. Ousaman Sonko, Minister of Interior, Ismaila Sambou, Minister of Local Government and Lands, Mustapha Carayol, Chairman of the Gambia's Independent Electoral Commission, Ambassador Fall of Senegal, among others.