By Omar Bah
The leader of the opposition United Democratic Party, Ousainu Darboe, has expressed concern over the country’s political tension and urged for decorum in the interest of peace and security.
The country’s political discourse continues to be polarized especially between the ruling National Peoples’ Party and the UDP on one hand, and among UDP members themselves on the other.
In a statement shared with The Standard, the UDP leader wrote: “I am gravely concerned about the state of our national discourse because hardly a day passes without one seeing or hearing outrageous and disparaging comments made by our compatriots on social media in the name of politics.
As a senior citizen, I believe it is my responsibility to speak out on the errant behaviour of some of the younger generation. Some of them feel entitled to be obnoxious every time they have a disagreement with others. Instead of focusing on the issue at hand and try to resolve it maturely their first reflex is to be needlessly rude and insulting to the person opposite.”
Continuing, Mr Darboe specifically addressed members of his own party: “I have observed with dismay and disappointment how some members of our party engage in juvenile spats and name calling, only for such tiffs to degenerate into the use of abusive language and dragging their family names into the gutter. For me, it is distasteful and totally unacceptable to invoke in a demeaning way the name of venerable elders in one’s personal squabbles. An apology after the fact does not minimise the damaged already done. And the unnecessary hurt caused to individuals and communities, though unintentional still entirely avoidable. Why not guard your tongue in the first place and weigh your words before carelessly throwing them into cyberspace forever?”
To be clear, he added, this is not the UDP way.
“And I get it that personal ambition, candidate choices, and policy disagreements are all part and parcel of the political terrain, but these are not mutually exclusive with civility in speech and decorous conduct particularly on the media platforms that proliferate the social and political landscape of the modern world
Therefore, I wish to renew the call I have been compelled to make on several occasions in the past to all members of the UDP to conduct themselves with decorum at all times and to desist from making disparaging comments and trading insults with adversaries and allies alike,” he added.
Darboe urged all Gambians to shun leaders who engage in divisive rhetoric, and appealed to the militants and supporters of the UDP to at all times conduct themselves with dignity and be respectful to all, no matter what the circumstances.
“As political leaders our means of ascent to high office must always be based on our Gambian values of basic decency respect for our elders and respect for one another basic. I believe that we must earn the respect and confidence of our compatriots only then will they entrust us with the high honour of governing the affairs of our homeland,” Darboe concluded.
