President Adama Barrow has down-played his regional government and religious minister Hamat Bah’s assertion that Talib Bensouda’s UMC poses the biggest threat to the NPP’s electoral chances in next year’s presidential election, but some Gambians have advised President Barrow to read the deeper meaning of Hamat’s utterances in order to avoid a political miscalculation.
Though many NPP officials and supporters continue to relish and gloat over Bensouda’s break away from the UDP, Hamat is worried. Hamat sees Bensouda as the NPP’s biggest threat, suggesting that any attempt to downplay his potential influence on the outcome of next year’s presidential election would be politically suicidal.
When President Barrow bragged to Bah at a recent political rally in Sukuta that Talib’s UMC or any other opposition party cannot pose any formidable threat to his rule, some Gambians thought the President has been making political miscalculations that could lead to his political annihilation.
“President Barrow should advise himself that any attempt to underestimate the UMC could lead to a disastrous political failure for him and the NPP,” auto mechanic Hassan Sarr told JollofNews when approached for comment on the matter.
“We have all seen the upset that Mama Kandeh caused in the 2016 presidential election and I am foreseeing the same outcome in 2026 with Talib in the race,” he added.
A primary school teacher, who requested anonymity, opined that next year’s general election will be a repeat of the 2016 election.
“Like it or loathe it and believe it or leave it, Bensouda’s influence in this election would be hugely felt across the NPP on the day of the vote counting,” said the school teacher.
To electrician Musa Fatajo, Hamat Bah “is an old political cow who would not waste political fodder”.
“Hamat knows his stuff and he knew exactly what he was talking about when he raised the issue of UMC at the Sukuta rally,” he told JollofNews.
For tv and radio repairer Momodou Jallow, Barrow was either clueless about what Hamat was saying or the President was just slow in the uptake.
“I believe the President would soon come to the realization that he should respond to the Talib threat with proportionate force or else, he may be picking up the phone to congratulate someone on the 7th of December next year,” he opined.
However, according to President Barrow, the governing NPP does not need to fear any political adversary as the party’s liquidity position is solid and its campaign machine ready to be well-oiled.
