By Tabora Bojang
Opposition UDP leader Ousainu Darboe has told his supporters to respect all in the realm of politics and avoid confrontation and focus on the ultimategoal of salvaging The Gambia.
He made this statement while speaking to supporters during the party’s congress in London, England over the weekend.
His comments come after President Adama Barrow launched an attack on the UDP branding them a “threat to national security” and vowing to crack down on miscreants.
“Every [UDP] member, supporter and sympathiser should strive to be a great ambassador of the party, advocate the principles of our party, seek to persuade, respect all within the realm of politics and completely avoid confrontation in your advocacy. Do not insult or demean anyone even if they insult me or anyone within the party. Insults diminish and deviate public discussions and they are totally appalling and unacceptable. Always remember the best advocate for any organisation including political parties such as ours is the one who always does his or her advocacy about issues and not merely wanting to draw attention to him or herself. That is the way to do justice to a course one believes in. Your party is a vital national asset and as your leader I appeal to you to hold on to it as a sacred cause; nurture it and do good with it. Embrace unity, eschew division and always aspire to do your best to our beloved country and its diverse people,” Darboe said.
He added: “Our political opponents are constantly hoping to see us fracture among ourselves but I think they will be waiting for a very long time because we know how to robustly engage among ourselves without resorting to self cannibalism. They know our competence, they know what we can do and they know our resilience, they also know that most Gambians trust and have confidence in the UDP and at the heart of the trust and confidence Gambians have for UDP is our scrupulous respect for the rule of law and zero tolerance for corruption…
“All that our opponents count on is to scare and polarise the population with fear and divisive politics, and also hoping to see division amongst our ranks. They will conjure up imaginary factions within our family, attempting to manufacture non-existing leadership contentions. I am very confident that none of it will work because I know you, the UDP members and supporters and sympathisers, see and realise their schemes and they will fail because they can’t destroy what we have built.”
