The truth generally comes out in trickles. The sober get it. The idiots bury their heads in the sand.

UNITED TO LOSE THE ELECTIONS-  NO, WE CAN’T

by Abdou Secka

To any independent political observer, abandoning the NRP to stand as Independent candidate in the upcoming 
presidential elections is a political suicide that Hamat Bah would live to regret. In politics, an independent candidate is an 
individual NOT affiliated with any political party. To use a convention to elect an independent presidential candidate is 
wasteful and politically insupportable. Mr. Bah has obviously fallen into the intellectual trickery of Mr. Halifa Sallah 
especially when it now emerged that his decision not to contest for the leadership of the United Front was consequential 
to the holding of the convention.

This vindicated Lawyer Ousainou Darboe who will be counting his blessings knowing fully well that if he had accepted 
Mr. Sallah’s proposal for a convention he would have resigned from the UDP as leader of the largest opposition party to 
take charge of the proposed alliance. If ignorance allowed Mr. Hamat Bah to exaggerate the successful outcome of his 
election, it now blinds him to the reality of dismal failure. Gambian electorates would not like to vote for a candidate who 
keeps on jumping from one alliance to the other. May be the next alliance for Hamat Bah and his NRP is to join the 
APRC but knowing how Yahya Jammeh is addicted to the presidency, he would only have to settle for a Governors job 
with all the attendant privileges attached to the post.

The certified figures of the past Presidential Elections will show that in the 2001 elections, Hamat Bah of NRP polled 7.8 
percent of the votes cast while Lawyer Darboe of UDP got 32.67%. In 2006 when Hamat Bah and Lawyer Darboe joined 
forces, together they only polled 26.69%. Thus, Mr. Hamat Bah did not contribute anything during the last elections; 
instead, he made Lawyer Darboe’s votes dropped by more than 5 percent. If this trend continues, the United Front will 
not poll more than 6% in this year’s elections. With the increase in the number of registered voters, mostly nationals of 
other countries, PDOIS, GPDP, NADD, and NRP are heading toward political oblivion that have never been seen in the 
history of the Gambia.

The pronouncements by Mr. Bah to grant unconditional amnesty to Yahya Jammeh in the event he (Bah) wins the 
elections may have been at variance with the philosophy of PDOIS and many Gambians who believe in the right to 
liberty and equality before the law. His unfortunate uttering could cost him the election and further showed that he lacks 
the experience and gravitas to become President even when Yahya Jammeh continues to instill fear under the guise of 
State security. Every Gambian wants peace and security, but since our nation is not at war with any country, improving 
the economic well being of all Gambians and treating us with dignity should be paramount.

If further proof is needed to tell Mr. Bah that abandoning NRP is politically suicidal, then he needs to look no further than 
to ask Mess. Halifa Sallah and Seedia Jatta why NADD and PDOIS are still co-existing and why they never stood as 
Independent Candidates in 2006.

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