However, the Information Minister denied wrongly informing President Barrow of the realities of the chances of the independent candidates from their party.
The NPP although won 18 seats- more than any other individual party in the just concluded National Assembly elections, suffered a set-back compared to the presidential election in December 2021.
During the polls in December, the ruling party won more than 30 constituencies leading to sweeping 53% of the votes handing Barrow the ticket for a second term.
The party, however, this time managed only 18 out of the 40 seats it contested for in the parliament.
It is alleged that many of the supporters of the NPP did not approve the selection process of the party’s candidates ahead of the elections, a decision that proved costly after the announcement of the official results in the parliamentary elections.
Admitting to the party’s errors in some of the decision making ahead of the election, told West Coast Radio on Tuesday, “you know we have learnt a lesson and I can tell you that most of those independent candidates who did not win or who even now have won, we’ll have a strong dialogue among ourselves on a way forward.”
A video circulating on social media suggested President Barrow and Hamat Bah, saying there is no independent candidate from their party. Many are of the view that the NPP leader and Bah have been misled on the realities by giving them wrong impressions.
Asked if he and others might have misinformed the president on the issue, Minister Sillah denied any wrongdoing.
“I have never given any wrong impression to President Barrow.”
He added: “These people came from within us and they have very strong supporters. It was a very challenging situation. For example in a community where you have very prominent members of your party supporting an independent, you have to be really very careful because after the election you want to come together as one big family.
“So there is no need to have heightened situations where you will provoke each other to the point that it will be difficult to come back together again.”
