By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The scramble and struggle to win the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) ticket to contest for the forthcoming Brikama Area Council (BAC) Chairmanship election, which is scheduled for May 20, continues amid the unwillingness of the 8 applicants to back down and back out for one another, thereby leading to the rescheduling of the decision to select a candidate initially slated for today.
The ruling party chairman in the West Coast Region, Lamin Jatta confirmed that the committee received nine applicants and among them, only one withdraw. However, the remaining eight rejected the proposal to withdraw in a discussion. Today, February 19, was announced by the party’s regional committee for the announcing of their candidate, but the process has been postponed until further notice, The Fatu Network received.
Ahmad Gitteh, an applicant and the first among those to declare their desire to contest publicly, confirmed to The Fatu Network when inquired about the election process scheduled for today.
“The selection process is postponed until further notice,” he told TFN.
The Fatu Network understands that the nine applicants for the position were all invited for a discussion among themselves to allow only one person to contest before it reaches another stage. However, eight of the nine applicants all decided not to leave the post for one another, thereby giving the regional committee of the party a further task in their decision-making.
Incumbent Brikama Area Council Chairman Sheriff Sonko is among the applicants for the post. Despite his checkered past in office over the past years, Mr. Sonko still wants to throw his hat into the ring for the second term.
In an interview with a local online TV, NPP West Coast Region Party Chairman said he prioritizes ward councillors’ seats over the chairmanship, noting that if the party lost more seats, their desires may not be realized.
The party will be contesting for 16 ward Councilor seats, while political ally APRC will contest for other wards. However, the target of the NPP-APRC is to win twenty seats in the council.
