The
leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) has resigned from the party to
enable him contest in the forthcoming presidential election as the standard
bearer of the opposition coalition.
“I
do hereby tender my resignation as a member of the United Democratic Party
(UDP) and the positions that I hold in the party with immediate effect,” Adama
Barrow said in a letter dated 3 November, addressed to the UDP deputy secretary
and copied to the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Barrow’s
resignation is prompted by his election on 30 October 2016 as the standard
bearer for the opposition coalition for the 1st December 2016 presidential
election.
He
shall now be contesting as an independent candidate backed by seven opposition
political parties: People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and
Socialism, National Reconciliation Party, National Convention Party, United Democratic
Party, Gambia Moral Congress, Gambia Party for Development and Progress, and
the People’s Progressive Party. Dr
Isatou Touray, a former independent presidential aspirant, has also thrown her
weight behind Mr Barrow.
In
response to Mr Barrow’s resignation, UDP deputy secretary general, Mariam B.
Secka, in a letter dated 5 November, said the executive of the party has met
and “unanimously accepted” Barrow’s resignation “in the best interest of The
Gambia”.
