By: Malanding Darboe
As Gambians go to the polls in less than two years to elect a new President, veteran politician Hon. Halifa Sallah has asserted that a coalition of opposition parties could be formed to challenge President Adama Barrow in the general election.
“Coalition [of opposition parties] can be possible,” Sallah said on Monday as he entertained listeners’ questions on Star FM’s Wake Up Gambia breakfast show.
He recalled his pivotal role in forming the 2016 grand coalition that ousted the former Gambian strongman.
Hon. Sallah was among the key opposition figures who expressed their desire to bear the coalition’s flag in that election, but the relatively unknown political quantity, Adama Barrow, emerged from the shadows of Ousainou Darboe and the UDP to lead the alliance. Halifa said he was not embittered by his failure to carry the coalition’s torch.
“I did not feel bitter about my failure to lead the coalition,” he pointed out.
In response to a listener’s opinion that only a coalition can uproot President Barrow, the respected political figure said: “That’s just a perception,” hinting that President Barrow could be unilaterally defeated come 2026.
As the country gets ever closer to the 2026 presidential election, choruses for an opposition coalition are growing shriller from within the country and without to end President Barrow’s presidency.
