Says Halifa Sallah
By Demba Bah._
The PDOIS presidential candidate, Halifa Sallah, yesterday described the talk that PDOIS speaks the truth but cannot win an election as a farce.
He asked: “Who can say PDOIS cannot win an election in 2021 when it has been the engine in almost all coalition buildings most notably in 2011 with United Front which polled 11% against UDP’s 17% and winning in 2016?”
He cautioned that such are the narratives of the mindset.
“It is a psychological warfare for people to believe that PDOIS cannot win. ‘Do not waste your vote.’ That claim is a farce. PDOIS can win in 2021. It can pull a very big surprise, he asserted.
He gave empirical evidence to back his assertions which will be published in our subsequent editions as he went on to give a breakdown of the Transformative Agenda (PDOIS Manifesto) through its seven components and five operational locomotives that run through them.
Halifa Sallah, who is also the Secretary General of PDOIS, contesting for first and last time as a presidential candidate under his party ticket for the 4th December 2021 presidential election, made these remarks at a press conference held at the party headquarters in Churchill Town to clarify issues surrounding the debate on concepts such as Socialism and Capitalism neither of which, he said, is the reality of the Gambia. Hon. Sallah asked: Others are moving. How are we to move? That is the real question.
He also seized the opportunity to give an overview of the just concluded presidential campaign in the rural areas which saw him welcomed as never before for a continuation of the campaign in the urban areas, namely Greater Banjul Area.
He said the debate which was organised by the Commission on Presidential Debate at the Sir Dawda Kairaba International Conference Center was really not a debate; for it was reduced to a combative nature of Capitalism against Socialism which has no relevance to the course the party had undertaken.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, at the debate, there was really no debate. What we saw is the categorization of Socialism as an unworkable system because that system has failed, as alleged, in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. He had a proposition that Capitalism is the answer. We could not read anything else in the debate other than simply that,” he remarked.
So it is important to acquaint you with these issues which are remote and irrelevant to the current course we are undertaking, the course of eradicating poverty, ignorance and injustice in the Gambia,” he noted.”
Halifa reminded himself that he should have paid his respects and condolences to three individuals. One of them is Pa Nderry M’bai, who has contributed immensely in providing information to the Gambian population so that their awareness could be raised.
“Now that he has departed, it is his and ours as duty to pay condolence to his family and register the impact he has made in shaping the current mindset of the Gambian people which is very much enticed to information. Very much enticed for independence. The other two, a marabout in Daru Rilwan who welcomed them on their tour and a colleague who worked with them in the 2016 struggle and played a major role in the transformative process that took place in 2016.
“Mr. Singhateh in fact studied in the old Soviet Union and had a profound record in contributing to the development of the Gambia,” he noted.
He asked the gathering to observe one minute silence in prayer in their honour.
Halifa once again reminded the media that, the issue raised at the presidential debate must be clarified for them. He said the Gambia as we know it depends entirely on family farms for its agriculture.
“When you talk about Capitalism, it is the ownership of the means of production. It means that all the land will be owned by a few with Capital. They will invest heavily in machinery and employ people. If those who talk about Capitalism truly understand what it means, they would not say that it is the dominant mode of production in the Gambia,” he remarked.