In his first interview since GEP severed ties with the PPP, Sawo said the coalition agreement with the UDP had already been negotiated and accepted by both parties, but the process stalled when the PPP leadership delayed convening its final decision-making meeting.
“We voted at the Central Executive Committee, the Board of Trustees also approved it. The only thing left was the National Executive Committee,” Sawo said.
According to him, the party planned to raise D69,000 to bring delegates together for an in-person meeting but struggled to mobilise the funds for weeks.
“If PPP cared about the process so much, it shouldn’t be hard to raise less than D69,000, one week went by, a second week went by, and they still couldn’t raise the money.”
Sawo argued that the leadership should instead have held a virtual meeting to avoid unnecessary delays, warning that prolonging the process created room for speculation and weakened confidence in the coalition effort.
“Election is just four months away we cannot keep waiting two or three weeks; there are other issues we should be focusing on,” he said.
The GEP leader also criticised what he described as a lack of initiative within the PPP leadership, saying the party became too passive during negotiations.
“I want proactiveness; business as usual is not going to change The Gambia,” he said.
Sawo maintained that he holds no personal grudge against PPP leader insisting the split was based on principle rather than personality.
“I don’t have any grudge against him. For me, it’s just about the principle,” he said.
