By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
This article features an exclusive interview with the Citizens Alliance flag bearer Dr Ismaila Ceesay focusing on their tour to meet up with other registered Political Party leaders. This interview was conducted on 15th April 2021 and will feature an ongoing series focussing on the peaceful co-existence amongst Political Parties as the country gears up for the 4th December 2021 Presidential Elections.
Yusef Taylor: Citizens Alliance is a newly formed party after its first-ever congress this year and creating your executive. One of the first things you did was to go and meet the different political party leaders. Can you tell us more about this initiative?
Dr Ismaila Ceesay: When I was elected as the party leader of Citizen’s Alliance one of the things in my mind was to go and meet all the different political party leaders to discuss a few things. One is the State of the Nation how we can work together to ensure the peace is maintained but most importantly to promote peaceful co-existence among political parties because I’ve observed that there is a lot of polarization which is very toxic among our supporters, especially online and I think with the leaders we have to play a very important crucial role to ensure that that trend is neutralized.
So, what my thinking was that if the supporters, if the party members, if the base is able to see party leaders sitting on a table discussing and having coffee that would send a very positive signal to the support base that all is well amongst the Party Leaders. If there is that rapport between the party leaders, I think that will filter down to the supporters to understand that politics is not about [making enemies] we aren’t enemies. It’s not about sentiments, it’s about policies. We all have the same aim to build a better Gambia for the next generation. However, the route in building that better Gambia is the difference.
So, the idea was to promote peaceful coexistence amongst parties to discuss means in which we can ensure a peaceful free and fair elections in the country and also how can we advise the government not to work with the government, but advise the government and proffer solutions to the government to ensure that the reforms that they were supposed to carry out are really conducted.
The next publication on this series will follow up with more details of the different Political Party’s that have met the Citizens Alliance on their “Dialogue with Political Parties Tour”. Find out which Political Party Leaders declined to meet up and discuss.