APP-Sobeyaa leader Essa Mbye Faal has abandoned his bid for the December 5 presidential election and declared President Adama Barrow the winner more than two months before Gambians are due to cast their ballots.
Faal made the declaration on Sunday at State House, where he formally signed an alliance agreement with President Barrow and his ruling National People’s Party (NPP).
“The election is over and is dead and buried,” Faal said. “I’m no more thinking about the election because Adama Barrow has already won the election.”
Faal said his political focus had shifted from contesting the presidency to working with Barrow and contributing to what he described as the broader task of advancing the country.
“What we are thinking about now is what will take the country forward,” he said.
The decision marks a significant reversal for Faal, who had been preparing to challenge Barrow and had emerged as one of the president’s vocal political critics.
APP-Sobeyaa confirmed last week that it had reached an agreement in principle with the NPP, paving the way for Sunday’s formal alliance.
APOLOGY TO SUPPORTERS
Faal acknowledged that his decision to withdraw from the presidential race had disappointed supporters who had expected him to contest the election.
“I feel your pain because you were having hope on something, but that did not happen,” he said.
“This is what is destined to be.”
He apologized to supporters who had invested their hopes in his presidential bid and appealed for their understanding and forgiveness.
Faal attributed the political development to what he described as God’s destiny, while suggesting that he had seen circumstances and political realities that his supporters had not seen before reaching his decision.
He urged his supporters to accept the decision and support the new political direction.
PARTY RIFT EMERGES
Faal’s decision, however, has already triggered opposition within APP-Sobeyaa.
A group of founding members and senior party officials publicly rejected the alliance last week, arguing that the decision had not followed the party’s internal procedures. The group also called for Faal’s resignation as party leader.
The internal dispute adds another layer of uncertainty to the political consequences of the alliance, as Faal attempts to bring his supporters into the NPP-led political camp.
Faal’s declaration that Barrow has “already won” is a political assertion made well ahead of the December 5 vote. The formal outcome of the presidential election will ultimately be determined by the ballots cast by Gambian voters and certified through the electoral process.
The alliance nevertheless represents a major shift in Faal’s political trajectory, transforming him from a prospective challenger to a political ally of the president he had previously sought to defeat at the polls.
