By Omar Bah
Gambia for 5 Years, a movement advocating for President Adama Barrow to complete the five-year constitutional mandate has expressed concern over UDP’s decision to support the Coalition 3-year agreement.
When President Barrow ended the brutal 22-year presidency of Yahya Jammeh, he was hailed as a hero. But the hope inspired by his ascension to power has long since faded among a large section of his supporters when his started having problems with his native UDP.
“We believe Ousainu Darboe being a political leader and statesman is highly respected in this country and as such, we are now worried that his declaration supporting the Coalition 3 years agreement has the potential to add impetus to fears of destabilising the country. We are equally disappointed that as a constitutional lawyer, Darboe would even come close to supporting any agreement that is inconsistent with the country’s constitution,” Abdou Willan, the movement’s assistant secretary told The Standard yesterday.
He continued: “As one of the architects of the 1997 constitution Darboe should be the chief defender of the provisions of the constitution.
“He is not an ordinary person. He has a large following and therefore his utterances could open the doors for people to engage in demonstration which we are worried may not be peaceful which could lead to economic uncertainty and political unrest given that they plan in or around December.”
He said they spoke to the press to reignite calls for peaceful co-existence in the country.
“We have plans to engage the international community for support as well as the Gambia government to engage the country’s politicians in a dialogue,” he noted.
He said their activities will include a peaceful solidarity march on 14 December to send signals that the Gambia is peaceful in addition to an international conference with different stakeholders. “However we are not going to stage a counter demonstration against the 3 years Jotna in December. We will only counter the 3 Years Jotna through advocacy by convincing Gambians not to take part in any demonstration that amounts to a violation of the constitution,” he stressed.
Willan further revealed that they are not supporting President Barrow’s political agenda, instead all they want is to defend the country’s constitution and to avoid unnecessary tension when election is just at the corner.
