The failed launch of the Unite Movement for Change (UMC) to the league of nation’s bona fide political parties should be more concerning to the National People’s Party (NPP) than the GDC, NUP or APP-Sobeyaa.
The UMC’s unsuccessful launch to the orbit of IEC-recognised political parties appears to have laid bare the profundity of the entrenchment of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) in the Gambia’s body-politics.
When the relationships between the NUP leader Lamin J. Darboe, the UMC founder Talib Ahmed Bensouda and the UDP were wrinkled late last year, President Adama Barrow could not hide his joy and, he even publicly gloated over it for some time.
But indications are that President Barrow’s conviction of “the split of the UDP into three parts” was falsely placed.
If anything, Mr. Barrow and his political strategists would be scampering back to the drawing board following UMC’s lacklustre pre-launch performance.
UMC’s failure to blast off to the space of bona fide political parties with 10,000 voter’s cards alone had exposed it’s battle-unpreparedness.
So, the race for No.1 Marina Parade appears to be whittled by one because Yahya Menteng Sanyang’s Meta post last weekend, indicating that the movement is relying on public sympathy to mobilize 10,000 voter’s cards, could be translated by some as a capitulation.
And, how about if the opposition succeeds in forming a unified front?
Then, the NPP will be facing a formidable front come 5, December.
So, the NPP has more to worry about the UMC’s inability to mount a successful take-off to the orbit of registered political parties than the PPP, PDOIS, GFA or GAP.
