By Omar Bah
The majority of the political parties have confirmed they will attend the proposed dialogue meeting with the president at the State House today. A preparatory multi-stakeholder committee assigned to facilitate national dialogue in The Gambia announced on Wednesday that President Barrow has accepted its recommendation for him to meet all political party leaders on Monday.
The meeting which has been welcomed in many quarters will give political party leaders the opportunity to make statements on the theme of creating a political environment for sustainable peace and stability in The Gambia.
The Gambia For All (GFA), Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), National Reconciliation Party (NRP), People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and APRC have confirmed they will attend the meeting. However, the UDP and PDOIS said they will confirm their attendance contingent on the outcome of their executive meetings which were on-going by the time we went to press last evening.
Meanwhile, academic and human rights activist Sait Matty Jaw said the national dialogue is necessary.
“It may also help to reduce all the unnecessary political rhetoric and give political leaders the opportunity to express themselves on some of the issues that are very necessary for this country to consolidate its democracy. I think for me, this is a very welcome development especially at a time when Gambia is celebrating its independence anniversary. I have been calling for national dialogue. You know sometimes when a country is transitioning it’s important for political leaders, civil society and stakeholders to meet and discuss and take stock of challenges but also agree on a roadmap in terms of how to address those challenges. I hope the dialogue is purposely intended for that and the outcomes of the meeting would be fully implemented,” he said.
