The convener of the 2016 Coalition of opposition political parties, Mrs Fatoumata Tambajang-Jallow, has confirmed that the  leaders of the seven parties will meet on 11 April to review the agreement and chart the way forward, according to the Dakar based West Africa Democracy radio.   

Mrs Tambajang-Jallow, who also served as vice president under the Barrow led political coalition, said the meeting will also reconcile the differences among the coalition partners in the national interest.

“We are going to meet and review the Coalition agreement and come up with our position and inform the president about it. We have agreed with him [Barrow] that he is going to come out to the press and tell the whole country what the Coalition has agreed on and he has pledged to support our decision.

“We must support the government and strategies in terms of making the president engage the population so that they know that we are together. We cannot afford to disappoint the Gambian people.”  

She pointed out that though the Coalition agreement was for Barrow to serve for three years, it would be unrealistic to ask him to step down in December.

“I cannot pre-empt the Coalition agenda but considering all the factors and the difficulties that we have inherited and all the reforms that are going on, it is just realistic that he stays for five years but that has to be decided by the Coalition. I just want to say that the Coalition did not only come for a regime change, but for a system change. Removing Jammeh alone is not enough.

“The Constitution should take precedence over everything. The MOU is a gentleman’s agreement. Yes, people have a moral responsibility to comply with agreements, but moral responsibilities have to be realistic and take consideration of the constitution because he swore to uphold the constitution and keep the country for five years.”