GMP Joins NPP Alliance Hours After Withdrawing From Coalition 2026

By Seedy Jobe

The leader of the Gambia Movement for Progress (GMP), Professor Sidat Yaffa, announced on Monday that his party had joined an alliance with the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), hours after withdrawing from Coalition 2026.

Professor Yaffa announced the decision in a video message to supporters, saying the GMP executive committee approved it.

He said the party decided to leave Coalition 2026 because it believed the opposition alliance was not sufficiently recognizing its contributions.

According to Professor Yaffa, the GMP executive subsequently agreed to ally with the NPP under an arrangement in which the parties would work together and support one another.

He stressed that the decision did not mean GMP members had joined the NPP. Rather, he said, the party would maintain its separate identity while cooperating with the ruling party, similar to alliance arrangements involving the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) and APP-Sobeyaa.

The announcement came shortly after Professor Yaffa formally notified Coalition 2026 flag bearer Talib Ahmed Bensouda of the GMP’s withdrawal from the coalition, effective September 24, 2026.

In his letter to Mr. Bensouda, Professor Yaffa said the decision had been taken by the GMP executive committee and cited several grievances with the coalition.

Among them, he pointed to what he described as disrespect toward the GMP during a rally in Brikama, where he said the party was denied a speaking slot despite finishing as runner-up in the coalition’s flag-bearer selection process.

Professor Yaffa also raised concerns about what he described as the portrayal of Coalition 2026 as a project of the UNITE Party and alleged violations of the coalition’s principles of collective decision-making.

He further accused Mr. Bensouda of failing to suspend his membership in the UNITE Party and to take the oath of office required under the coalition agreement.

The GMP’s decision marks a significant political shift for a party that, until its withdrawal, had been part of Coalition 2026 and had participated in the process that selected Mr. Bensouda as the coalition’s presidential candidate.