Two years to main the Presidential election, members of opposition UDP and non-party alike are debating over who should succeed the party’s longtime candidate and flag-bearer despite his desire to cling on to power.
Mr. Darboe told a political gathering that he will not resign anytime soon as long as his health continues to support him, he will continue to lead the party.
The veteran politician’s remarks suggest he is still ambitious of becoming President despite opening avoiding to directly expressed whether he will contest such a highly anticipated contentious election expected in 2026.
There are line-up individuals who are accused of preparing the ground to succeed Darboe among who are the KMC Mayor, Bensouda, Lamin Sanneh OIC among others.
In a facebook post, US-based Nanama Keita called for the retirement of Darboe insisted, Bensouda will be the best among all the planned successors due to his competence and mix tribe origin.
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His statement did not go down well with some UDP Diaspora Campaign and Organizing Secretary Mr. Bob Touray wrote: “It hurts seeing shameless non-UDPians melding in the internal affairs of the party. For Godsake join and be part of the process rather than toxicological dividing us on flagbearship. We are not yet there. When we get there we will cross it collectively as a party”.
However, UK-based Yunus Hydara has astonishingly supported Nanama’s position calling for the retirement of Darboe and opted to support Bensouda or Yankz Dabo for the throne.
In his post, Mr Hydara argued: “should Hon. Darboe look for a possible
replacement for 2026? I think so. I believe
Darboe has done well for his country over the years and he should not look at his efforts and sacrifice to be meaningless to his legacy. Just like Nelson Mandela is revered for, personal struggles to get to power is not as significant as what you do with power once achieved. He commands a lot of respect and admiration in the country, but he also has a lot of strong feelings against him in the
country. What happened to 2016 coalitions and the role he played has put a lot of distrust against him and his followers”.
Mr Lamino Lang Komma a UDP member also added voice: “There is still time to start a party for 2026 for anyone who dares. It is not fair to be parasitic on an existing political structure under the guise of electability. Should UDP always be an outfit to ride on to political success just to be abandoned at a later stage. Are lessons never learnt from the current president to as recent as a national assembly member? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Sticking with the known is much safer than an untested ambitious novelty. The current leadership of UP has been tested over the past 27 years for consistency, bravery, intellect and keeping the party unified. Furthermore, the results of the last elections have been contested for having been stolen, thus implying that the current leadership
won and is electable – unless one disputes
the stance of the party on that issue, which
was thrown out of Court only for technical
reasons and not its merit and content. The only other argument used against the
leadership is that of age. Isn’t that a strange
and flimsy excuse in trying to enforce one’s ambition under such a pretext”.
Over the weekend, the party’s Admin Secretary denied assertion of power struggle within the party arguing no one can hijack the party.
Is UDP at crossroad, Time will tell. Whether it will be Bensouda or Darboe shall be determine in the party’s next congress expected in 2026.