By Tabora Bojang
The opposition UDP member for Central Baddibu has warned that the opposition will resist any more attempts by the ruling National People’s Party NPP to conduct political activities with non-parliamentarians in the National Assembly premises.
Sulayman Saho alleged that last week, Deputy Speaker Seedy Njie, who is also the NPP deputy spokesman invited former PPP Banjul mayoral aspirant Ebrima Jawo into the National Assembly to endorse their candidate, Ebou Faye
Mr Jawo was seen in a video in the company of Seedy Njie and the chairman of NPP Banjul Ousman Wadda among others in the office of the deputy speaker.
According to UDP’s Saho who is also the opposition whip in the assembly, this act are a violation of the assembly’s ethics.
He alleged that this is the second time NPP officials conducted political party engagements in the assembly premises with people who are not members of the parliament. ‘The last time they invited Yaay Compins to a meeting in one of our committee rooms. We condemned it and wrote to the Speaker and the Clerk and they vowed to address it. And now if the deputy speaker is using his office as a political clinic it is totally wrong and we condemn it in totality. I want to advise the deputy speaker to desist from using the parliament as a political bureau of the NPP. If they, the NPP have other issues to deal with relating to their political activities let them do it outside or in their political offices. The National Assembly is a national office and it belong to all Gambians and so political parties should not display their symbols or conduct party activities within, especially with people who are not parliamentarians otherwise we will resist any such behavior,” Hon. Saho warned.
