The Secretary-General of the PDOIS, Halifa Sallah, said on Tuesday that his party did not join the NPP Coalition because it did not want to be subsumed into a bigger party as how the NPP partner parties “have been transformed into underlings of the NPP”.
Halifa indicated that all the political parties that have partnered with the NPP are now lower in rank and status within the ruling party-led grand coalition.
“And look at those people that have joined the government. What have they gained in terms of political parties. What has NRP gained? What has NCP gained? What has GPDP gained? All these parties now are being transformed into underlings of the NPP. So, NPP is supreme to their coalition,” Sallah told Coffee Time With Peter Gomez.
In response to a question from host Peter Gomez as to whether the NPP alliance is not a tactical one in which allied parties are allowed to put up candidates in areas they perform electorally better, Sallah said the “NPP selects where to leave you to put up a candidate”.
“It’s not our business really as PDOIS as to what other parties do. In fact, I should not have mentioned them and I apologize for mentioning them. It’s not fair. What is important is to concentrate on our party,” he quickly added.
Halifa said earlier on in the interview that:”You must evaluate what happened to those who went in [NPP coalition] and what they are today.
“Obviously, they are marginalized. They don’t have parties anymore. Look at those parties that said they are part of the coalition.”
Meanwhile, Halifa indicated that the PDOIS was running away from a collective failure, hence it’s decision not to join the 2016 Coalition administration.
“Joining the government, you must also accept collective responsibility. You cannot just join a government that way and dapart et cetera. Whatever is wrong with that government, you are part of it,” he stated.
