By Alhagie Jobe
Dr Isatou Touray, female Independent presidential aspirant has agreed to return and join the opposition coalition which is united under one standard bearer in the upcoming December 1st polls, the Fatu Network has confirmed.
According to reports, Dr Touray agreed to finally joined the coalition on Thursday during a meeting initiated by the coalition group headed by Aja Fatoumatta Jallow-Tambajang accompanied by Hon. Sedia Jatta of PDOIS and Hon. Hamat NK Bah of NRP respectively. The meeting was held at Dr Touray’s office.
There are no immediate and detailed information as to what made up the agreement, but reports have it that they have finally come to consensus.
It could be recalled that seven opposition parties went into a convention last Saturday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel and elected Adama Barrow as the coalition standard bearer to face incumbent President Yahya Jammeh who is seeking for a fifth term.
At the convention, Dr Touray did not turn up citing she was discriminated, marginalized and suffered information black out in the whole process of the coalition convention including who funded and how delegates should be lodged.
“I was not served with the document that all Presidential candidates were supposed to sign until the 31st October, 2016. There was a deliberate effort to marginalize me, there was no transparency and I never knew where the funds came from” she said at a press conference a day after the convention.
Although she made it clear that she did not pull out of the coalition, Dr Touray at the time neither showed her support nor opposing the elected coalition leader saying her options are open and will get back to the people at the appropriate time and assured that she is still committed in promoting democracy, salvaging The Gambia and not to only make change but change for what.
Meanwhile, the remaining party to join the coalition is the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) of Mama Kandeh. The position of the party with regards to the coalition is still a nightmare to many Gambians as they still remain mute.
