By Amadou Jadama
UDP leader Ousainu Darboe has said if elected in 2026 he will not seek re-election beyond a second term and urged President Adama Barrow to step down at the end of his current term.
Talking to The Standard in Nyakoi Kerewan in Wuli West during his ongoing national tour, Darboe underlined that the introduction of a term limit for the president is a core belief of his party and that no president should serve for more than two terms.
“I think, we the African leaders, should establish rules without a need for having an Act of parliament for certain conducts. I think we as leaders should be able know that it is a good practice to step down after serving two terms even though there is no law to that effect,” he opined.
He added: “There is no provision in the current constitution for a term limit. Can’t the president who served for ten years say I am quitting even though there is no term limit, and say, this is what I believe? I think that is a good practice and should happen.”
When The Standard pointedly asked him whether he will run in the 2026 election, Mr Darboe answered non-committaly: “That will be decided by the UDP. In 2016, then President-Elect Barrow stated: ‘It is now clear that Gambians can remove their incumbent president through the ballot if they are willing to do so. My election with Jammeh is a clear indication of that”.
Darboe said Barrow mentioned during that speech that from then on, no president will serve for more than two terms.
“That is the thinking of the Gambian people including President Barrow himself, when he contested in 2016 election. Based on the Ecowas protocols of good governance and democracy which The Gambia has signed, leaders can only contest elections for two terms. Whether the protocol was ratified or not should not be the issue. If I were him, I will advise myself not to contest and then he will be applauded by the entire world,” he said.
Commenting on the tour, Darboe expressed his gratitude to Gambians for the “rousing welcome” accorded to him and his entourage and “the massive defections” from NPP to his party.
He implored Gambians, in particular, the people of Basse, to stay away from tribal politics, saying there is no room for tribalism or regionalism in national politics.
“The concerns of the people of Niani West should be the concerns of the people of Garawol, because we are all facing the same problems. Let us vote on issues rather than on tribes. In The Gambia, we are interrelated and intermarry, “he advised.
He said during the tour communities across the country have decried the lack of water, roads and sufficient electricity and called on the government not to shirk its responsibilities in meeting the basic needs of rural and poor Gambians.
