Almamy Fanding TaaI has been appointed as the United Democratic Party’s spokesman.
Contacted for confirmation, Mr Taal said his appointment was since February and his duties include being a liaison and interface for the party, the general public and the information platforms and outlets; and also be the communicator-in-Chief of all party messages, activities and programs.
Principally, when the party leadership wants to convey a message like when we call press conferences, when we clarify positions, they should all be put through the conduit of the spokesperson, Mr Taal said.
On the council elections
Asked about his party’s reaction to the recent elections, Mr Taal said the results show that people are still overwhelmingly in support of the UDP.
“All politics is local but when it comes to local government election, it becomes both local and personal. Even in the dark days of the Jammeh dictatorship, Banjul has twice elected independent mayors so there is reason to believe that in the new dispensation it would take a while before loyalties are finally settled,” Taal said.
He also revealed that it may appear that the voter turnout was extremely low but the UDP is looking at the figures and are trying to form a very informed opinion based on what the data is telling them.
“We are considering as a strategy to engage the grassroots and re-energise the base of the party because some people believe that local government elections are not as significant as other electoral cycles that we have gone through. So we are going to send a unified message that we are the natural party of government, we are represented right across the nation and we have a very clear mandate from the majority of the votes that have been cast. So as a strategy, we will redouble our efforts that every vote cast for the UDP is a vote for growth, for progress and for consolidation of our gains,” added Taal.
“History shows that the UDP has been fighting against dictatorship and tyranny; even at some point we decided to boycott elections just because of principles. So in the new order, we believe that once local governments are properly constituted and we are in the majority of the local government areas nationwide, people will see real UDP governance apparatus because at that level, there is some autonomy both managerial and financial. If you are mayor or a chairman of a municipal area, you don’t entirely depend on the central government which as you know is a coalition government. It is not a UDP government, per se.
So we are counting on the support of the grassroots and to ask again very humbly for their vote and for their mandate. So that we are able to serve them and show them the difference that fully fledged UDP government can bring to their areas and their neighborhoods,” he remarked.
