Sulayman Camara, Head of Media and Communication NPP.
By Buba Gagigo
Sulayman Camara, the head of Media and Communication for the National People’s Party (NPP), attributed his party’s loss in the West Coast, Kanifing, and Banjul regions to a protest vote against the recent price hikes in The Gambia. He said that the NPP will go back to the drawing board and address the concerns of the people.
“We will go back to the drawing board and galvanise. The UDP is celebrating success in the protest vote and this voter will disappear into thin air from their support base. The voters have sent us a wake-up call and not necessary they are supporting the UDP because UDP is a very divided party and they have no concrete policy agenda for this country. An angry lot cannot bring any meaningful development into this country,” he said.
Mr. Camara said the post-Covid and the Russia-Ukraine war was quite problematic for all governments across the globe and Gambia was no exception.
“For COVID, the reduction in the supply chain was the main reason for the increase in some commodity prices. Russia being the world’s largest supplier of gas and crude oil, its war with Ukraine has had a severe effect on the whole world in terms of energy prices. All the above factors contribute to voter apathy which impacts our performance and expectations at the polls,” he said
He said NPP is the ruling party and still the largest party in this country. he said they went into this election with one incumbent and they were able to uproot three sitting chairmen from their seats.
“We have the largest majority in the national assembly and we also have the largest number of councilors. So we are in charge of the grassroots. Our adversaries the UDP are saying that we only won in the provinces, this is preposterous as the provincial vote is quite important to our dear party,” he continued.
Mr. Camara said his party (NPP) will come out to explain the importance of local government elections to their supporters while he accused the media of biased coverage towards their party.
“We suffered a severe and unjustifiable hounding from certain media houses, and many a time clarification was never sought from our end. We urge all our supporters to be law-abiding. His Excellency the President and the Secretary General of our party cherished and value the peace and stability that our dear nation is enjoying and this will be jealously guarded at all times.
“The progressive people’s movement which is NPP, is an inclusive party and a party for all. As a party, and a government, we are going back to work to carry on bringing unprecedented developments to the length and breadth of this nation,” he said.
The National People’s Party (NPP) lost Banjul, Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Brikama Area Council (BAC), and Mansakonko Area Council during the just concluded local government election.