‘Gambia will be led by a Coalition in next 20 years’

By Omar Bah Former vice president, Fatoumatta Jallow-Tambajang has forecast that the country will be led by a coalition government of sorts in the next 20 years. “Coalition 2016 is the mother of many coalitions to come, because for the coming two decades, in my humble judgment, this country will be led by a coalition. Why? Because of the emergence of new political parties, because of the new-found democracy and freedom of expression,” she told The Standard. She said the current political atmosphere has opened up the space for people to register new political parties. “As far as I am concerned, I do not see the end of coalitions in this country. I have seen and heard a lot of disunity among political parties. But as a mother of the nation, a professional and also a key member of the coalition, I will advise the political parties to build their internal democracy and continue to sensitise their people to come together as one people,” she added. She said people now have the liberty and freedom to affiliate themselves with whatever political party they so desire. However, she said this should be done in the spirit of tolerance. “We should be patient and tolerant. We are a family and it is going to be difficult now that God has helped us to start rebuilding the family that was broken for the past 22 years. We should be courageous and compassionate,” she stressed. Coalition 2016, Madam Jallow-Tambajang added, is “a force to reckon with and that it needed to be acknowledged and should always be in front of the country’s political agenda as it is what helped us to bring the change in The Gambia.” She said some people have assumed that the Coalition is dead, weak or non-existent, “but I said no, to me we should be patient as Gambians to continue supporting the coalition and its processes so that we can have a very strong and genuine democracy.” The former VP further highlighted that it is important that at some point, the Coalition members to meet so that they can brainstorm on the concerns and desires of the Gambian people as well as strengthen the national agenda, adding that they are happy that they have a president from the Coalition who is independent. She said as far as President Barrow remains independent unanimously elected and supported by the Coalition, the people will continue to support him until “when the end comes”.]]>