By: Kebba AF Touray
Sidia Jatta, the National Assembly Member for Wuli West, is of the opinion that politics is not about character assassination.
Jatta made these remarks yesterday during the adjournment debate at the National Assembly.
“It is important that we know that politics is NOT about insulting people. Politics is NOT about character assassination. Politics is about how we organize ourselves to be together, and to do something which will be in our collective interest,” he said. ‘‘You cannot do politics by insulting people. Because if you insult you drive people away from yourself. What you say must be capable of pulling people towards you, bring people together for their collective interest,’’ he said.
Jatta emphasized that if ‘‘we want to develop our people, we should not keep saying things that will pull people apart; that their role as MPs is wherever or whenever ‘‘we speak, even your opponents will be able to recognize the fact that what we do, is in the interest of the people.’’
Jatta advised that all land disputes currently going on in the country be resolved; that there are numerous land disputes and they are dividing communities by turning them into each other’s enemies.
Sidia urged the authorities to bring those involved in land disputes in two villages in his Constituency together, owing to the fact that they are the same people who marry each other and grace each other’s occasion; that the land dispute between the two communities has taken away the cordial and good neighborliness away; that this should be brought back, because ‘‘we cannot develop if some communities within the country are divided. We must be together to be able to do what is in our collective interest. We cannot do this unless the people are one, without any animosities and anger among themselves.’’
The Wuli West Member called for a linguistic revolution to liberate the minds of the citizenry from the fetters of foreign languages.
