Halifa Sallah’s own words that he declined a ministerial post in the 2016 coalition government just to save the PDOIS has raised more questions than it answers.
The erstwhile PDOIS leader recently suggested in a Coffee Time With Peter Gomez interview that he had to act smart and wise in refusing the ministerial role because he saw from afar the need to protect the PDOIS from being subsumed into a larger political party.
Unlike Minister Hamat Bah, who reportedly left the country in protest after failing in his bid to lead the coalition, Halifa stayed behind and played a crucial role in uprooting dictatorship.
This is all the more reason so many were hugely disappointed when Halifa refused to take a ministerial post after Jammeh’s ouster.
However, Hon. Sallah hinted in the Coffee Time With Peter Gomez interview that he had to act shrewd and protective because the PDOIS’ survival was on the line.
Many have since started asking whether this posture of Halifa’s had served as a wake-up call to the UDP, which later announced its decision to put up candidates in a subsequent legislative election through party nominations.
