We took the step of meeting you because we believe that our country stands at the crossroads. Our political differences and affiliations are important to our different histories and identities, however these matter less than what is at stake for our survival as a nation. It would therefore be poor stewardship to squander this God-given moment by allowing our differences to kill the umbrella project, and our ability and broad commitment to work together.
For the way forward we propose the following:
It is clear that, as is common in any political process, there is a lot of mistrust, hurt and disappointment between the parties, especially the BMD and the BCP. The hurling of insults and abuse at each other in the political rallies, social media, newspapers and radio is self-destructive. We need to find ways of restraining ourselves and refrain from so doing for the sake of what we are aiming to achieve here. So we urge you as leaders to issue a joint press statement declaring a joint commitment to refrain from vilifying each other and calling on your members to stop the name-calling and destructive accusations. We offer ourselves to assist with any kind of mediation or healing process that may be required along the way.
We were glad that all of you are agreed in principle to returning to the negotiating table. In our conversations we have garnered that:
