By Omar Bah
Alhaji Salifu Karamo Jaiteh, a prominent Gambian businessman and diplomat, has welcomed reports that President Adama Barrow will hold a dialogue with leaders of political parties on Monday.
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 to be hosted at the State House will give all political party leaders the opportunity to make statements on the theme of political environment for sustainable peace and stability.
Reacting to developments in a Standard interview, Mr Jaiteh said: “This is the best news I have received since Mr Barrow came to power in 2017. The country needed something like this very badly, and now that we have it, I encourage all party leaders to endeavour and attend the dialogue.”
He said the Monday meeting will be a good start for a fruitful discussion among different players in the country’s politics.
“Dialogue allows people to thrash out their differences and forge shared frames of reference and gives those formerly excluded from decision-making an opportunity to participate in the process of finding common ground and establishing priorities for action,” he added.
Mr Jaiteh said all leaders of political parties should take advantage of the meeting to address their differences and forge ahead in the spirit of national unity.
“I also want to encourage all of them, including the president, to respect whatever commitments they would make at the dialogue to ensure they end all these hostilities among them for the good of the country. I believe with the amount of capacity we have in all these political parties, if they are able to brainstorm, they will be able to find solutions for the problems this country is facing because I believe the interest of all of them is to see The Gambia prosper.”
