By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Essa Mbye Faal, an independent candidate for the December 4 presidential election has described PDOIS leader’s ideas as socialist in nature while his is capitalist and their difference is like Nokia 3310 and Iphone 13Pro.
“His is socialist and mine is capitalist. It’s just like Nokia 3310 and Iphone 13pro,” Mr Faal, a lawyer-turn-politician said at a debate held in Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference in Bijilo on Saturday, as both clashed on ideas as to how they intend to run the country should anyone of them give the mandate by the electorates in December 4 election.
He has emphatically stated that he will not apologies to Honorable Halifa Sallah for expressing his views at the Presidential debate.
The two Presidential candidates took time to present their views to the audience on five key areas of the national economy namely, infrastructure, health, agriculture and education, as outlined in areas of debate by the Commission of Political Debates.
This is the first time for a presidential debate to be staged in the country and it hopes to bring together all the presidential candidates thus giving them the platform to substantiate their policies and programs to the Gambian electorates ahead of the Presidential election.
However, during their closing statements, a completely unhappy Honorable Halifa Sallah remarked: “This is not the type of debate I wanted to engage in, it is very combative. I expected something different. But then when personal assault comes, I will hit the person right in the face and people must be careful. There is nothing in a republic that can turn the country into an ideological state.
“So, all those people who are saying those things are misleading you. I am a member of ICP-OACP assembly, I sit with European parliaments, and they listen to me. People that are hoodwinking you saying reflect ideas of Europe are deceiving you.
“Europe will speak for itself, Africa will speak for itself but not these people who are misleading you to believe that when a particular person is in power,” he pointed out.
“Even Jammeh could not be isolated because of international politics.
“He was getting grants, pretending not to, he was getting loans, pretending not to. How many roads have been built by the European Union? So you must bear in mind when you’re running a government, now we should not talk about ideology because we have a constitution and the Honourable Gentleman knows that. I was appointed as a Minister when the coup took place and I rejected it. And when that happened eventually they closed all chapters of political parties. I struggled against it. Whether briefcase lawyer or whatever, he was there, among those people who were prosecuting me.
“He should know how I valued democracy, how I valued the republic. I fought for it, I have lived for it and I will die for it. We will build the most democratic country in this continent. That’s what we intend to do. People should love the republic and they should love the people.”
Responding, an unapologetic Essa Faal stated: “I am really surprised that Mr Sallah appears very angry. I must apologize if I have said anything that riled you up. That was never my purpose. It was a simple debate where we exchanged ideas and I challenged some of your ideas.
“But let me tell you Mr Sallah, I would not apologise for having views that are different from yours. Gone are those days when we are indoctrinated and caught in awe of some of these statements you have made. We have come of age and we must free ourselves from that shackle of domination. We are now able to think for ourselves and look at things and not awed by the language that we use but rather we scrutinize the content of what is said and I do not apologise for having capitalistic views for I believe it is the system that will make the world run and not archaic and dogmatic old systems that did not even work where they are created let alone in this country.
“So I am not talking about ideology. I am talking about practical ideas that would work in this country. And Mr Sallah let me tell you: like you, many of us have also made sacrifices for this country. I have left a great deal to come and do this truth commission that is being talked about everywhere in the world and it was a personal sacrifice. So we are all in this together. And I respect you for who you are, I respect you for what you have done for this country. But equally, you must respect other people for what they have done for their country. You do not have a greater love for this country…”
Faal at one point in the debate stated that the PDOIS leader’s ideas are of socialist nature, while his ideas are that of capitalist, noting that their difference is like Nokia 3310 and Iphone 13Pro. “His is socialist and mine is capitalist. It’s just like Nokia 3310 and Iphone 13pro,” Mr Faal, a lawyer-turn-politician adduced.