By Omar Bah
The co-chair of the Inter-Party Committee (IPC) Amul Nyassi has confirmed that the Fabakary Tombong Jatta-led executive has written to his committee requesting it to intervene in the crisis engulfing the party. The letter was delivered yesterday.
On 15th October, APRC supremo Yahya Jammeh declared the removal of Jatta’s committee for entering an alliance with President Barrow’s NPP without his permission.
Jammeh revoked the alliance and instructed his new committee to back the Gambia Alliance for National Unity (Ganu) and its leader Sheikh Tijan Hydara.
Jatta’s committee rejected this and insisted they are the legal and bona fide committee, a position which was supported by the Independent Electoral Commission.
Now the Foni Kansala lawmaker Amul Nyassi said the IPC will first have to summon a meeting and look at the communication received to ascertain the next step his committee will take.
“It will interest you to know that we now have a mediation committee which is fully trained on its and very soon the IPC will summon a meeting to review the letter that is received from the APRC,” he said.
Meanwhile, the APRC ‘No to Alliance’ camp held a press conference on its legitimacy yesterday.
Addressing journalists at the news conference, the leader of the Jammeh-backed camp, Yahya Tamba said the APRC’s 2018 national congress in Bwiam selected former President Yahya Jammeh as supreme leader, chairman and flag-bearer.
“However, after the congress, to the utter surprise and disappointment of party members an announcement was made that Fabakary Tombong Jatta is registered as the chairman and interim leader of the party,” he said.
Tamba said following the announcement, party loyalists expressed dismay over FTJ’s decision to register himself as chairman and interim leader of the party and warned him to change his decision.
“He [FTJ] falsely claimed that a law was passed when he was a National Assembly Member that could bar the APRC party, if the name of Jammeh was registered as party leader of the party,” he said.
Mr Tamba said the FTJ-led executive’s decision to go into alliance with the NPP violated article 24 (1J) of the APRC constitution which makes it mandatory for any such alliance to be sanctioned by a national congress.
“It states that the national congress shall consider and approve proposals by the national executive committee for alliance with any party. In this case, neither a national or special congress was convened to approve the alliance,” he said.
Tamba added: “In my view, the decision of Jammeh to reaffirm his position as chairman and leader complies with the party’s constitution as he was unanimously selected and declared as such at the party’s 2018 and 2021 congresses.”
Tamba added that the decision of FTJ to relieve the rebel APRC executive members of their positions in his committee, violated article 30 of the party’s constitution, which provides that the rule of fair hearing should be adhered to before any executive member is removed from the party.
“Therefore, the removal of these executive members is null and void,” he said.
