By Seedy Jobe
Momodou Satou Dibba, the vice chairperson and interim spokesperson of the Gambia First Coalition, has rejected accusations that he sought to advance the interests of the United Democratic Party during negotiations over a coalition power-sharing arrangement, saying his proposals were based on professional judgment rather than partisan considerations.
Mr. Dibba, who served as deputy chairman of the CMC during the negotiations, addressed the allegations in an interview with Kerr Fatou on Thursday. He disputed claims that he left the committee because members rejected proposals that critics said were designed to favor the UDP.
“I was not there for the UDP, by all indications,” Mr. Dibba said.
Mr. Dibba said he initially joined the CMC as an observer and was required to demonstrate independence and impartiality. From the outset, he said, he made clear that he would remain neutral in carrying out his responsibilities, while retaining his right as a Gambian citizen to support and vote for a political party.
At the time, Mr. Dibba said, his preferred party was the UDP, though he did not formally declare that preference during the CMC proceedings.
He said that personal preference did not influence the power-sharing formula he helped develop.
According to Mr. Dibba, he designed a set of metrics for distributing positions under a proposed coalition government and submitted them to other CMC members for consideration. The committee discussed the formula and agreed to forward it to the senior negotiating body for further deliberation.
Mr. Dibba said the UDP itself did not support some of his proposals and, in some instances, offered him no feedback — circumstances he cited as evidence that his work was not being directed by the party.
He also provided details about how the proposed allocation system was structured.
Under the formula, he said, each of five registered political parties that had never contested an election would have been guaranteed at least one ministerial position, creating what he described as a minimum threshold for participation. Parties with a record of electoral participation would have received additional positions based on the agreed criteria.
Mr. Dibba said the committee also proposed setting aside several cabinet positions exclusively for political movements. Those positions, he said, would have been filled on merit rather than through appointments controlled by the coalition’s eventual flag bearer.
He argued that the resulting distribution did not disproportionately benefit the UDP. A statistical assessment of the proposed allocations, he said, showed that smaller parties would have received more positions than they would have obtained under a strictly weighted system based on electoral strength, while the UDP would have received fewer.
Mr. Dibba said the outcome demonstrated that the formula was intended to broaden participation among coalition members rather than consolidate influence around the UDP.
Comments are closed.