Mai
Ahmed Fatty, the leader of Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) has called on President
Barrow to take the lead for national dialogue, arguing that political leaders
must ignore political consideration and put the nation first.
“We
must put partisan consideration aside and put the nation upfront. I think it
will be better if the president takes the lead because it’s his responsibility
to ensure that the nation is united. We elected him for the welfare of the
nation and we elected him to take leadership in crisis like this. It’s his
primary obligation to maintain stability and peace and most important thing;
national unity,” he said last week during press conference with journalists.
The
GMC leader added: “Today, the nation is divided and the prosecution of 3 Years
Jotna leaders will further divide the nation. Among the measures that I intend
to do is to engage all political stakeholders in the country for national
dialogue. We want to see this country prosper. I will take initiative upon
myself and I will meet, Ousainou Darboe, Halifa Sallah and President Barrow
among others on the need for a national dialogue.”
According
to him, the New Gambia was a nation of the ‘ballot’ and not ‘bullet.’ “We respected
the presidency as a place of honour until it been transformed into venue for
frequent ordinary political rallies that have no connection to national
development or state matters,” he stated.
“The
wounds inflicted by politicians are still very deep, and the bickering, the
insincerity, the selfishness continues.”
Looking
for a way out of this crisis, he added, our people have turned to The Gambia
government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our national life. The
gap between our citizens and our government, he went on, has never been so
wide. “The people are looking for honest answer; clear leadership, not false
claims, evasiveness and politics as usual.”
Mai
Fatty said what one sees often around the country is a system of government
that seems ‘incapable of action.’ “The same depressive trend is what you find
in many political parties and citizen groups. You see every extreme position
defended almost to the last breathe by one unyielding group or another.”
The
erosion of our confidence in the future, Mr. Fatty said, is threatening to
destroy the social and the political fabric of The Gambia. “It is the idea
which anchored our struggle against tyranny and had guided our development as a
people.
Confidence
in the future, he continued, had supported our struggle from dictatorship to
democracy, in the potentials of our public institutions, our private
enterprise, our own families, and the very constitution of The Gambia.
