Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, the leader and secretary-general of the UDP, has said that he will soon settle down to the task of trying to bring the Gambia’s opposition under one banner to challenge President Adama Barrow in next year’s presidential election on a united front, but the question is: will the opposition respond favourably to Hon. Darboe’s proposal?
As the general election draws ever closer, concerned Gambians have started to resort to the airwaves in an apparent attempt to home in on the opposition the “imperative” for a coalition. Many callers on various radio call-in programs believed a fragmented opposition cannot dislodge President Barrow in next year’s high-stake election.
However, it would appear the UDP leader has now offered a glimmer of hope for “a coalition of all the opposition parties” when he recently revealed in an interview with Coffee Time With Peter Gomez that he will initiate coalition talks “in the next couple of days”.
“We want a coalition. We advocate for coalition and we are not just making a call for it but in the next couple of days, I will approach people, who I think share the same vision with us,”Darboe disclosed. He continued: “I want to look at the ones that have been on the political scene before 2021 and immediately after the 2021 election.”
The long-time opposition leader pointed out that he would soon be reaching out to the GDC, PDOIS, Essa Faal and Ebrima Tabora Manneh, adding: “No political actor will be dismissed. We will engage them and hopefully, we can all see the needful thing to do to get rid of Barrow otherwise all our protestations against corruption that is destroying our country will really be mere rhetoric. It will be a service to our people that we rescue this country.”
The question that lingers on the lips of many is: will the opposition come together and take on Barrow in the 2026 election to “rescue” The Gambia? The 2026 election will indeed provide the right answer to this question.
