By Omar Bah
The United Democratic Party spokesperson for NBR has issued a strong warning to GMC leader Mai Fatty against investigating hostilities with the party.
The former interior minister has said President Adama Barrow should not be blamed for the break-up of the coalition because he was instigated to renege on his campaign promise by some selfish politicians.
Fatty didn’t specifically mentioned any name but Karamo Njie said it is an open truth that Ousainu Darboe was the only politician who publicly said the president will serve for five years and even threatened to sue anybody who attempted to force the president to step down after three years.
He said Darboe made those comments in his own capacity as a lawyer, and that such statements have “never been the position of the UDP”.
“We have great respect for Mai Fatty. We don’t want a situation where we will engage in unnecessary verbal exchanges with him. We want to warn him to cease from such irresponsible indirect attacks against our leader. No Gambian can deny the sacrifice Darboe has done for this country,” Njie told The Standard.
He said Mai’s comments suggest that he wants to return to Barrow’s camp, saying if Mai wants to reunite with the President he can do so, without creating enmity with the UDP.
“We have never attacked him. He should return the respect we have for him. He has no moral authority to directly or indirectly caricature Ousainu Darboe. The country needs people like him to speak in tongues that will unite us and not otherwise,” he said.
He said the GMC leader should tell Gambians when and where he was jailed for defending the interest of The Gambia.
“We all know Darboe was jailed for defending democracy in this country which contributed significantly to the change. Mai should tell us what he has done that would warrant him to claim a lion’s title,” he said.
Barrow is indefensible
He said it is hypocritical for anybody, especially for someone of Mai’s calibre, to defend Barrow’s deliberate refusal to step down. Njie said Barrow has not only disappointed the UDP but the Gambian people in general.
“We cannot even understand why Mai should come up with such irresponsible comments now. This is the same person who has made all types of criticisms against Barrow. We cannot comprehend why now? The UDP never had issues with him because we respect him. Whatever it is he should desist or else we will start seeing him as our enemy,” Njie said.
Njie called on UDP supporters to ignore such comments and focus on the task which is to get Darboe elected president in December.
“We must not allow such comments coming from the most inconsistent politician to distract us. The sacrifice we have made in this country cannot be downplayed by anybody. The records speak for themselves,” he asserted.
