By Fatou Sillah
Kebba Ceesay, a former senior member of the Citizens Alliance and now a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has said the UDP has the strength to defeat President Adama Barrow without forming a coalition, but maintains that a united opposition remains the preferred path.
Speaking in an interview with Eye Africa, Ceesay said the UDP is electorally capable of winning on its own but believes broader political unity would better serve the national interest.
“UDP can win against Barrow without the coalition, but UDP does not want that; UDP wants everyone to come together,” he said.
Ceesay cautioned that coalition-building is a delicate and demanding process that should not be approached lightly, citing lessons from the 2016 political transition. “If you want to bring all the parties together, there is a way to do it. Coalition is not child’s play, and building a coalition is difficult. We have all seen what happened in 2016,” he noted.
He added that those currently spearheading coalition discussions should critically review their approach and address shortcomings from past efforts.
“I feel that the ones who organized the coalition talks, there are many things that are lacking behind; they have to go back to the drawing board and look at the errors they made,” he said.
Ceesay also dismissed the notion of labeling candidates as “winnable” or “non-winnable,” arguing that the UDP’s position as the country’s largest opposition party naturally places it in a leadership role within any coalition arrangement.
“There is no winnable candidate and non-winnable candidate. What I can say is that UDP is the biggest opposition party in the country. Wherever you go in the world today, the biggest opposition party always leads coalitions, and other parties join,” he said.
Reflecting on the formation of the Citizens Alliance, Ceesay said the party emerged out of dissatisfaction with President Barrow’s style of governance and growing concerns about corruption.
“Citizens Alliance was created because we do not agree with the ruling party; we do not agree with the way they are governing our country. We believe that the way he is governing the country is not the right way; there is too much corruption in the country, many institutions are affected, and we are very concerned. Gambians, this is the only country we have,” he said.
He further expressed disappointment over the Citizens Alliance’s decision to align with President Barrow, describing the move as a departure from the party’s founding principles and original vision.