Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, leader of National Democratic Alliance Movement (NDAM), has clarified that his link with the ruling APRC party is not a defection but to work in close collaboration for the interest of the country.

Speaking at a mass victory celebration in Brikama on Saturday as the President’s Dialogue with the People tour continued, Mr. Juwara called on all those in the opposition to overlook their respective distinctions and collaborate with the ruling party in the interest of The Gambia.

“What I am after is to have the whole country reconciled. To see to it that whatever difference is between us, is forgotten and become one,” he remarked.

“I am calling on the entire opposition to put The Gambia first before anything else,” he said, adding that the current government is everybody’s government and Yahya Jammeh is every Gambian’s President.

He expressed his expectation that in a year from now, the opposition would be gracing such state functions as the President’s Dialogue with the Peoples’ tour. He revealed that in furtherance of the goal he would take it upon himself to discuss the idea with all the opposition leaders in the country.

According to Mr. Juwara, the Memorandum of Understanding signed by all political party leaders in the country stiplates that whenever free and fair elections are held, the winner becomes the President of all and maintained that the MOU should be put into effect. 

It could be recalled that Mr Lamin Waa Juwara, who has until recent times been reputed for being one of the most implacable critics of President Jammeh’s regime, declared his preparedness to join the APRC party recently at a mass political rally held in the village of Katamina, Niamina West, during President Jammeh’s Dialogue with the Peoples’ tour.

Waa Juwara had first served as the Propaganda Secretary of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) for years before breaking away to form NDAM.

Meanwhile, Ya Fatou Sonko, a staunch militant of United Democratic Party on Saturday declared her defection to the ruling APRC at the victory celebration in Brikama.

Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara’s recently announced decision to defect to the APRC has many people talking. The leader of the opposition National Democratic Alliance Movement (NDAM) party declared his preparedness to join the APRC party last Sunday at a mass political rally held in the village of Katamina, Niamina West, Central River Region, as part of President Jammeh’s Dialogue with the People tour.People will of course tend to have their own opinions with regard to the motivation behind the momentous decision, as is their right in a democracy where free speech and freedom of expression are the order of the day. Perhaps the most interesting comments have been made by Femi Peters, Campaign Manager of the main opposition United Democratic Party.

He asserted that Lamin Waa Juwara is a Gambian and, like any other Gambian, he has the every right to belong to any political party of his choice. According to the UDP Campaign Manager, people should respect Mr Juwara’s right no matter what. “I want to put it very clearly that Waa Juwara is a Gambian like anyone of us and he has the right to belong to any political party of his choice,” he said.

For his part Mr. Henry Gomez, leader of GPDP, had this to say: “I accepted Waa Juwara’s opinion. He has the constitutional right to belong to any political party of his choice.”

These comments show an extreme political maturity on the part of the opposition and bode well for the future democracy of The Gambia. It is well known that

Lamin Waa Juwara has long held the reputation for being among the most open and articulate critics of president Jammeh so there is no doubt he went through an enormous amount of soul searching before embarking on such a radical shift in his political outlook. To make a political U-turn of this magnitude in public is a brave thing in itself and for this Mr. Juwara must in some way be admired. Many people would rather drop out of politics altogether rather than be seen to so radically recant their deeply held political beliefs. To president Jammeh and the APRC we say well done on the effective horse trading it must have taken to land such a high profile scalp. To the opposition we say congratulations on your political maturity in accepting the defection and to Mr. Juwara we say best of luck in your new job as nominated councilor on the Brikama Area council.