By Fatou Sillah
Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has argued that the United Democratic Party (UDP) was treated unfairly during the Coalition 2026 negotiations, contending that the party could not reasonably be expected to accept the same level of influence as significantly smaller political parties.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay defended the UDP’s stance during the coalition talks, saying the party’s political strength warranted greater consideration in the negotiations.
Drawing an analogy, he said, “You cannot bring business executives together where one person is contributing almost 90 percent of the finances while the others contribute only a small fraction and then expect everyone to have the same share; it is not possible.”
According to Dr. Ceesay, it was unrealistic to expect the UDP to accept an arrangement that placed it on equal footing with parties that, in his view, did not possess comparable political support.
“So obviously you don’t expect the UDP to come to a table where there are parties that cannot even register their parties, and you want us to treat them equally? No, it is not possible; nowhere in the world of politics does that happen,” he said.
Commenting on the collapse of the Coalition 2026 talks, the minister said the outcome was foreseeable, arguing that the participating parties lacked a shared ideological foundation, common values, or a unified policy agenda beyond their collective objective of unseating President Adama Barrow.
He further asserted that the coalition was hindered by competing leadership ambitions, with several party leaders seeking to head the alliance, making consensus difficult to achieve.
Dr. Ceesay also maintained that President Barrow has consistently favored political alliances over division. He said the collapse of the opposition coalition has strengthened the president’s political standing as The Gambia prepares for the 2026 presidential election.
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