By Musa Sanneh
No amount of political branding, rhetorical flourish, or strategic gaslighting can halt what appears to be the gradual implosion of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). The question surrounding the party’s future is no longer if it will decline, but when and how. The warning signs have been visible for years, though often ignored or dismissed.
To many ordinary Gambians, PDOIS has long represented ideological consistency, intellectual seriousness, and democratic resolve—a party perceived as principled and incorruptible in a political landscape often marked by opportunism. Yet beneath this public image lies a more complex and troubling reality. Accounts from within the party suggest deep-rooted internal dysfunction, rigid hierarchies, and decision-making structures that contradict the very democratic values PDOIS claims to champion.
As history eventually takes its course, scholars and political observers will assess the multiple forces that shaped the rise—and possible fall—of PDOIS. That reckoning will be intense and, at times, uncomfortable. Still, certain issues are already clear and largely beyond serious dispute: persistent intellectual arrogance, unresolved internal contradictions, and undemocratic organisational practices embedded since the party’s inception. These are not peripheral concerns; they are structural flaws.
PDOIS emerged from a cohort of highly educated Gambians who entered national politics in the post-independence period, when access to higher education was rare and tightly controlled. Unlike earlier political elites, the founders of PDOIS were widely viewed as a new and refreshing force—youthful, confident, and ideologically driven. When they formally entered the political arena in 1986, they distinguished themselves through disciplined rhetoric, sharp analysis, and a command of political theory that was uncommon at the time.
Their ideas resonated deeply, especially with young Gambians hungry for political clarity and moral direction. Through bi-weekly publications, public lectures, and recorded materials circulated across the country, PDOIS positioned itself as an intellectual vanguard. For a generation, the party’s leadership was seen not merely as political actors, but as authoritative interpreters of justice, governance, and national destiny.
However, political legitimacy built on intellectual dominance carries its own risks. When ideas harden into dogma and leadership becomes insulated from criticism, movements that begin as emancipatory can evolve into exclusionary structures. It is within this tension—between public idealism and internal practice—that the current crisis of PDOIS must be understood.
Part 2 will examine how internal party culture, leadership centralisation, and resistance to reform contributed to the erosion of PDOIS’s relevance in contemporary Gambian politics.
