By Omar Bah
Dodou Sanno, a presidential adviser and strong NPP supporter, has urged the Gambia Democratic Congress leader to publicly accept President Adama Barrow’s victory to foster reconciliation before meeting him.
Mamma Kandeh, who rejected the outcome of the December 4 presidential election results, has told journalists he had requested to see President Barrow but the Gambian leader has not responded.
Dou Sanno however said he was surprised that Mamma Kandeh requested to meet the president despite refusing to acknowledge his election victory.
“I want to urge Kandeh in the spirit of reconciliation to accept President Barrow’s election victory. This is not necessarily a condition because I know he has the right to meet the president whether he accepts the results or not,” he told The Standard.
On the request, Mr Sanno said he doesn’t believe Kandeh has used the right channel for his request.
“I think he should tell us where he addressed his request because we all know he has met the president before and I am sure the president doesn’t hold grudges against him or anybody. The president is very humble and doesn’t joke with his official duties and he welcomes all Gambians irrespective of political affiliation,” he said.
Also speaking to The Standard yesterday, the GDC leader Mamma Kandeh said his request to meet the president was done in good faith to discuss matters of national interest.
“I just requested to meet him to offer my advice based on issues of national interest and nothing else. I didn’t request to meet him to lobby for a position because if I am going to work with him, he is the one who should approach me and not the other way round. So, there is nothing special about me requesting to meet him as an opposition leader,” Kandeh said.
He vowed to continue giving his political opinions about the government whenever he deems necessary.
“I believe Barrow should be proud that someone in the opposition is requesting to meet him concerning national issues. If I were the president, I would have periodically invited all the political leaders to discuss national issues,” he said.
On whether he will ever congratulate Barrow, Kandeh argued: “Nobody will change my position on the fact that the election was not free and fair. I have said times without number that I cannot stop Barrow from being the president but I have a right to say I don’t accept the legitimacy of the December election.”
