‘President Barrow Will Respect the Outcome of the Coalition Stakeholders Meeting’: NRP Deputy Leader

The Deputy leader of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) has expressed confidence that President Adama Barrow will respect whatever decision is taken at the weekend’s Coalition 2016 Stakeholders meeting.

Stakeholders of the 2016 coalition which brought President Barrow to power, will meet on Saturday to discuss the state of the coalition in the face of looming political wrangling mainly over whether or not the president should step down at the end of a three-year term.

Ahead of the meeting, NRP’s Musa Sonko suggested Barrow will adhere to the decision of the meeting, adding that a similar process by the coalition brought him to power.

 The proposed meeting comes on the heels of growing rift between the president and some key coalition partners. It would be recalled that eminent partners including former Vice President Fatoumata Tambajang and veteran politician and ex-leader of the Peoples Progressive Party, O.J Jallow were fired by the president. Ousainou Darboe, the president’s longtime political godfather and the Secretary General of the United Democratic Party was the latest coalition partner he fired.

“I don’t think President Barrow will attend the meeting but I believe he will have high regard for any decision that comes out of the meeting because this is the way forward for the country,” said Mr. Sonko, who also the Secretary General of the Interparty Committee on Opposition Unification setup before the 2016 election to unify the opposition parties.

Mr. Sonko, a former Gambian Ambassador to Guinea Bissau told The Chronicle that all the coalition stakeholders have been notified of the meeting and have all shown interest in it.

Under the 2016 coalition agreement, President Barrow should serve a three-year term. But that’s unlikely following his biggest hint earlier this month that no one could force him out of power before 2021.