By Tabora Bojang
Gambia opposition parties risk “annihilation” if President Adama Barrow wins the December presidential elections, National Assembly Member for Central Baddibu, Sulayman Saho has warned.
Talking to The Standard, the UDP lawmaker said the opposition needs a united front to fight the “common enemy.”
“Our common enemy in this country is President Adama Barrow. So we [the opposition] trying to fight from different angles could harm the country because if he wins all of us are going to suffer since we are going to be ruled by mediocrity. If he is returned to power, he will be a complete dictator who could even be worse than Jammeh and no political party will have a chance to survive in this country,” Saho claimed.
He said the leaders of the opposition parties must come to the realisation that all of them cannot be president at once and they ought to apply “sensibility” and form mergers, alliances or coalitions.
“This is why I am calling on Dr Ismaila Ceesay, and Essa Faal whose manifesto is similar to the UDP, to join us so that Barrow can go,” he urged.
Saho who is also the UDP national youth president, further claimed that the president’s recent declarations to restrict the political space if re-elected is a harbinger of what will befall the opposition if they fail to unite against the incumbent.
“President Barrow has made clear his position and he will do everything to maltreat the political parties and shut opportunities we could use to express ourselves. Therefore, Barrow winning the elections will pose a big threat to our democracy. Yes, the laws are here but our judiciary is still not fully sanitised even though it is now Gambianised.”
Asked if his call for a united opposition is not engendered by the fear of the large crowds being pulled by the president’s NPP in his recent meetings, Mr Saho, stated: “I’m the least worried because the majority of the people in those meetings are young people who are not eligible voters.”
“What is certain is that he is an incumbent and he is using our state resources to solicit more support using regional governors and other state machinery,” he said.
