You attended your first NEC meeting; how was the reception, to see who has just joined the party?
I was well received, as I was already well received at the Congress. At first I was even surprised because it has been two to three days since I learned that I am a minister in the Shadow cabinet, in charge of Public Works and Transport. I already had to understand how it was going to happen, what exactly was expected of me, in short, so that I still had a small idea. We have been put against the wall because at the next meeting of the NEC (National Executive Committee), we must already have an outline of what we want to do. Coming back to the question, really, it’s very organized. There is nothing to do with either Morep (Republican Movement, the party of which he is the founder, Editor’s note), nor where I was at a given time (the MRC, Editor’s note). It’s well organized, very structured. Everything goes well and there is no manipulation; because there are many parties where you are, when they have already decided on something, you are given the floor, it’s ”yes, yes! Okay!” Really they are very well structured, there is great respect from everyone. I appreciated that.
You have barely arrived in the party, and you are bombarded in the Shadow cabinet, and for who knows what the Shadow cabinet is worth to the SDF, it is recognition that you have lacked elsewhere?
I don’t think it’s something I had elsewhere or not. Even if I am not an MP or councilor anywhere, I have been in politics for a while; so people know me well enough. And then when I introduced myself, I said that I was surprised that people said two days ago that I am Minister of Public Works and Transport; I said: ”you don’t know me, but I still have a little idea”. I told them when introducing myself: ”I am Fabien Assigana, engineer in mechanical engineering, graduated from Liverpool University, I am an airline pilot. And then when I finished, I left all that there, I went to the University of Baltimore, I did an MBA (Master of Business Affairs), and I think it’s still a background which allows me to adapt very quickly. Even where I am, I didn’t do public works, but as an engineer, I still have a way and a method of approaching my task. And I think I’ll be up to it.
Some would say that you were parachuted to the top of a party that has a proven track record with some people who should have been in your place. What do you think ?
No, I haven’t heard that, but apparently within the party, there are some who have asked that Dr. Louis Marie Kakdeu has just arrived and he is 2nd vice-president, I just arrived ago barely a month or a little more, but they don’t know that the Chairman was still alive, in this residence, the honorable Joshua took me, he introduced me to the Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi. We talked. And as I told you, I was still hesitant, as there were rumors within the party. They know my background, they know who I am, what I have done in life, what I am capable of. So they already knew who I am, they know me perfectly. Obviously the others don’t know me, they know that he did the Morep, they say ”he did this, he did that, he goes up, he goes down”. But they know me perfectly and I don’t think they made a bad choice. The new Chairman wants to be President of the Republic, so he is very careful who he brings to work with him. So everyone can see that he made the right choice.
You created Morep, then you abandoned it to join the MRC, and today you land in the SDF. What makes you run?
What keeps me running is creating a structure that will beat the Rdpc. I created my Morep myself, I refused to become a small party in Lékié, because with Morep, in the next legislative elections, I am capable of being a deputy in Lékié. I don’t need to change parties to do it; but I can be a small MP who only has one vote in the Assembly, and that’s not good. I want a structure because I am for alternation and alternative. There must be change, either through systemic transition or through election. So I think that the SDF is a place, a place, a party where I am convinced that we can achieve this, since when I spoke with President Joshua, I told him that my objective for joining the SDF is that ‘in the next legislative elections, we will have 90 deputies plus one. This is what we call absolute majority. And I wasn’t able to do it alone. I can be a single MP, from time to time I speak but it doesn’t lead anywhere. I want change for this country; that’s why I do it.
And in this objective of 90+1, do you have a personal ambition?
Yes, I will be a candidate. I will be a candidate for municipal elections, but to hand over to someone else because I don’t want to be mayor; I remind you that I am from Lékié, and I am from the district of Sa’a. I’m powerful enough there. I’m going to be a candidate, I’m going to be head of the list for the municipal elections, but I don’t want to be mayor. As soon as that passes, I give way to the next person, but I’m going to be a deputy. The Lékié-Est constituency has three deputies, and I will make the list. Lékié Ouest has two deputies, and we will make the list.
Good luck in your new adventure
Thank you.
