By Mama A. Touray
After the July 8th protest led by Concerned Citizens against proposed bills, a seven-member delegation met with the National Assembly Members and informed the media that no agreements were reached.
The National Assembly, through the clerk, in a letter dated 11 July 2024, informed the Concerned Citizens that after due consideration of their petition by leaders from all sides of the Assembly, they are invited for a dialogue and discussion on the subject matter.
Lamin Manneh, a member of the executive body of Concerned Citizens, told the media shortly after the dialogue that as a people’s power movement, they believe in the support of the people behind them.
He stated that they have no concessions with the members of the National Assembly. Their purpose was to understand the concerns of the National Assembly regarding their petition, and that was the focus of their discussion.
Manneh continued that the National Assembly, led by Deputy Speaker Seedy Njie, the majority leader, and other political party representatives, shared their concerns.
“We also shared our position, which is that we want the withdrawal of the National Assembly members’ salaries and pensions bill, as well as the judiciary officers’ remuneration and other entitlements bill.”
He said during the meeting, the members expressed concerns not about increasing their salaries, but about their gratuity, specifically in the event of an individual’s death while in their position. He stated that as a group, they have read, understood, and are aware of the contents of the proposed bills.
After the meeting, he informed the press that no future meetings with the members had been scheduled and that the current meeting concluded without a resolution.
“We promised ourselves that we are not going to have any resolution passed with their members that will come from the national assembly,” he said.
When asked about their next step, Manneh said: “Anything that we are doing will be determined by the public that is behind us. We have our WhatsApp platform as well as social media handles and it’s good to have media here so that you will help us share what we have discussed, and we will monitor your comment sections because it is through the people we will make our next demand.”
Regarding transparency, he mentioned that the primary reason for sharing their dialogue invitation with the media is to maintain transparency throughout the protest.
“It was not to their notice that we invited the media, but we deemed it fit that the media should know that we are invited to dialogue with the National Assembly.
“We are transparent and committed to leading this protest at any time possible and we believe the citizens are with us and we want to encourage them that we are still resolute on our ground. Let them trust and have high hopes in our discussions,” he said.
