By Fatoumatta Sillah
Saikou Sawo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has called on political leaders to engage in dialogue and compromise in deciding who should lead a potential opposition coalition ahead of the December 5 presidential election.
Speaking on the For the People By the People programme, Sawo said the issue of coalition leadership is sensitive and cannot be resolved by individual parties acting alone. winning public trust.
“I think political leaders need to sit together; we can all compromise and agree, because it is a very hard topic and you cannot dismiss the people these big political parties have today,” he said.
He stressed that while larger political parties may rely on past electoral performance to justify leadership claims, smaller parties and emerging movements should also be included in the process.
Sawo argued that fairness and inclusivity are key to building a credible coalition capable of “I think the process should be fair. Because obviously, it is a great argument if parties have contested before and have historical data of votes, but we also have movements and smaller parties whose strength we are still trying to understand,” he said.
He further called for all stakeholders to be brought together to avoid division and repeating past political mistakes.
“We need all those people in the same room to say, ‘Hey, we have seen this before; we don’t want a repeat of that,’” he added.
According to Sawo, a strong coalition can only emerge through broad consultation and shared decision-making involving experienced political actors and emerging movements.
“If we involve different people—those with the experience and history—to sit together, we can build a formidable coalition that Gambians can believe in,” he said.
He warned that any coalition formed without wide consultation risks losing public confidence ahead of the polls.
