By Kemo Kanyi
The flagbearer of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Saikou Sawo, has formally withdrawn his Golden Era Party (GEP) from its partnership with the PPP, citing loss of confidence in the arrangement.
In a withdrawal letter issued on Wednesday, Sawo thanked the PPP leadership, executives, members and supporters for the opportunity to work together, while acknowledging their contributions towards their shared objective of building a better Gambia.
“After careful reflection, however, I regret to inform you that the Golden Era Party is officially withdrawing from the People’s Progressive Party with immediate effect,” Sawo said.
He said the decision was driven by several considerations, including what he described as a loss of confidence in the partnership due to alleged “hypocrisy” by some PPP executives and members over the proposed alliance with the United Democratic Party (UDP).
Sawo said the PPP leadership had established a Central Coalition Committee, comprising himself, the PPP leader and other party executives, to oversee alliance discussions.
He maintained that the PPP leader was kept informed throughout the negotiations and that no engagement with political parties took place without his knowledge or approval.
According to Sawo, the proposed alliance agreement was drafted by the PPP Policy Director and negotiations were conducted in good faith under the authority provided by the party leadership.
“We fully respected the Party’s constitutional processes. We neither bypassed nor interfered with the various consultative stages required before the formal execution of the Alliance Agreement,” he said.
The GEP leader also clarified that his participation in a UDP press conference on the supplementary voter registration exercise was unrelated to the proposed alliance agreement.
He said concerns over the omission of eligible voters from the registration process were matters affecting the integrity of the country’s democracy and should concern all Gambians regardless of political affiliation.
Sawo said continued disagreements, internal contradictions and delays surrounding the proposed UDP alliance had weakened his confidence in the PPP’s ability to provide the urgency, unity and leadership required at the current political moment.
He added that effective political leadership requires decisive action, consistency, respect for commitments and the ability to manage differences without creating unnecessary divisions.
The withdrawal marks another development in ongoing discussions among opposition parties ahead of The Gambia’s 2026 general elections.