By Seedy Jobe
The United Democratic Party will withdraw from the APEX coalition talks after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Gambia First Coalition on Friday, a senior party official said, arguing that the UDP cannot participate in two competing coalition arrangements at the same time.
Lamin Manneh, the UDP’s deputy administrative secretary for external affairs, confirmed the decision in an interview with Kerr Fatou on Thursday, a day before the planned signing.
“We cannot be in two coalitions,” Mr. Manneh said.
He said the party’s National Executive Committee met on Sunday and agreed on its political direction ahead of the 2026 presidential election.
Under the new arrangement, the UDP will align with the Gambia First Coalition and present its leader, Ousainu Darboe, as the alliance’s presidential candidate, Mr. Manneh said. That decision, he added, makes continued participation in the APEX negotiations untenable.
“We have only one voice,” Mr. Manneh said. “Once we commit that voice here, we cannot pledge it elsewhere.”
Mr. Manneh also said the APEX talks had made little significant progress, reinforcing the party’s decision to pursue a separate coalition arrangement.
He said UDP representatives involved in the APEX negotiations had already been instructed to formally communicate the party’s decision to withdraw.
Despite leaving the talks, Mr. Manneh said the UDP would encourage its former APEX partners to join the emerging alliance with Gambia First.
“What we will tell those we were with in APEX is, please come and join us so we can continue to move the country forward,” he said.
The planned agreement marks the latest realignment among opposition groups as political parties and movements seek alliances ahead of the 2026 presidential election.
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