By Seedy Jobe
The leader of the People’s Alliance Party (PAP), Ebrima Tabora Manneh, has criticized the opposition coalition negotiations, saying the process was “bound to fail” because of what he described as an unfair voting structure and alleged manipulation.
Speaking in an interview on Mengbe Kering TV, Mr. Manneh said PAP joined the coalition discussions in good faith with the expectation that registered political parties would negotiate and agree on a united front for the 2026 presidential election. However, he said the process changed after civil society organizations (CSOs) and political movements were invited to participate.
According to Mr. Manneh, granting registered political parties and non-party groups equal voting rights undermined parties that had spent years building nationwide political structures.
“It takes at least 10,000 people to nominate a party for registration. You spend one or two million dalasis to register a party, in addition to the cost of running its activities. Then someone comes from nowhere and says we should all have equal voting power. I told them that doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Mr. Manneh said PAP has invested heavily in establishing itself since 2021, including opening regional bureaus, paying office rent, conducting grassroots outreach, and holding a national congress. He argued that those efforts should not be placed on the same footing as organizations that, in his view, lack comparable political structures.
He also questioned the expanded composition of the coalition talks, claiming that the participation of more than 10 civil society organizations and political movements altered the balance of the process.
According to Mr. Manneh, with seven registered political parties and nearly 14 CSOs and movements represented, non-party groups had the numerical strength to determine the coalition’s presidential candidate, potentially sidelining established political parties.
Despite his concerns, Mr. Manneh said PAP entered the negotiations with a genuine commitment to achieving a united opposition in the national interest. He said the party was prepared to accept any outcome provided the process remained fair, transparent, and credible.
“Because when we were going, we went sincerely. We said it was for national development. We would follow the process. We would not force ourselves. We would not deal with anyone under the table. We would see how the process goes,” he said.
Mr. Manneh maintained that PAP’s participation was guided by a desire to support a credible coalition process but said the party could not remain part of discussions it believed no longer met those standards.
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