The
country’s opposition parties yesterday convened at the Kairaba Beach Hotel for
another coalition meeting.
It
would be recalled that this was the third coalition talks the opposition
parties have held, but are yet to reach a concrete agreement in forming a
coalition.
At
yesterday’s meeting, Halifa Sallah of the PDOIS, Dr Isatou Touray, the
independent candidate, Lamin Bolonding Bojang of NCP, Alhagie Darboe
representing UDP and Musa Sonko representing NRP and some observers attended
the close-door meeting.
Speaking
to the press shortly after the meeting, Halifa Sallah said the objective of the
meeting was to review all the coalition options and they agreed to convene a
meeting of the Gambia Opposition for Electoral Reform (GOFER).
Each
of the presidential candidates would present a coalition option before that
gathering for a general review so they could build a consensus.
He
said a candidate needs over 443,402 votes to be seen as a candidate who could
win an election, but as of now they had not seen any particular candidate who
could stand.
However,
Sallah expressed optimism that they would a get a candidate who will meet the
requirement or the needed votes.
He
said they would also conduct a primary to select whoever they want.
However,
he said, under the constitution, “before you are nominated you must have 200
registered voters in each region and that is also another option.
“We
are concerned about building a way,” he said.
Dr
Isatou Touray, the independent candidate, said she was very hopeful the
dialogue and consensus going would serve as an opportunity for people to
reflect and come up in choosing the best candidate, which requires people to
make the best option.
“It
is very important for all the political parties to come up with a candidate who
can really bring the change they are yearning for,” she added.
Also
speaking was the UDP representative, Alhagie Darboe, who said the closed door
meeting “went very fine”, because there were consultations and at the end of
the day they were able to reach at a conclusion from each presidential
aspirant.
