UDP leader likens party to a jealous husband

By Omar Bah UDP leader, Ousainu Darboe, has likened his party to a jealous husband and that its leaders are its wives. “If you are with us, you cannot date another person. That is a red line. You will be divorced. No one will use us for a ride,” Darboe admonished while addressing a rally at Kunkujang Keitaya, Kombo North, over the weekend. Darboe who is also the vice president of the country, said the UDP will not allow anyone to short-change its well fought struggle in the name of political expediency, argued: “It doesn’t matter whether you are a minister, NAM or whatever; if you go against what the UDP stands for, we will divorce you. UDP leaders are considered as wives to the party. The UDP will divorce any leader bent on undermining its mission.” Mr Darboe’s warnings come following a public spat between factions in the party over the establishment of the Barrow Youth Movement, which some regard as an attempt by supporters of the president to set up a rival political organisation. Using another analogy, he said the UDP is a tree and it will not allow any other leech-like tree to align itself to it, to grow. “We are armed with a hoe. We will cut the roots of any tree that tries to align itself with the UDP main tree to grow. We will not allow anyone to use the UDP as a smokescreen to grow your tree. We will cut the roots of such a tree into pieces,” Darboe vowed.   Leadership Mr Darboe also clarified that his selection as the party leader does not mean he will lead the UDP in the 2021 presidential election, saying the position is open to all Gambians. “I want people to understand that my selection as the leader and secretary general of the UDP does not make me the presidential candidate… When the time comes for the presidential candidate to be selected, we expect many people to apply and we want to encourage people to do so,” Darboe told his supporters. Darboe also called on the younger members of the party to follow their elders. “We are not greedy. We will hand over the mantle of leadership to you at the right time. But we will not allow anyone to impose himself on the party. We will not accept it,” he said. “Even in South Africa, the ANC leadership old guards led the party for sometime before handing over the mantle to the younger ones. The UDP can emerge as the ANC, provided that the party membership respects the elders of the party,” he stressed.   Position and honour In an apparent vague reference to the possibility of his ejection from cabinet, Darboe said positions are decreed by Allah and one should not be ashamed or perturbed by losing position. “The only thing that should give you sleepless nights if you lose your job is if you lose it due to anything that is discrediting. We should all be very careful of that. The way we are brought up and what we desired for the country is to avoid anything that is shameful. Be it me, or you the NAMs. We should avoid doing or saying anything that will bring shame to the UDP. The same applies to our supporters; let us watch our tongues especially in the [social media] forums, because whatever you put in the air, you cannot control anymore,” he added.]]>