I find it hard to comprehend why UDP led alliance still command some support among the Gambian electorates, despite UDP’s numerous political missteps. The political history of the UDP is marked with inconsistencies and flip-flaps. The UDP leader has never failed to demonstrate these during or after each presidential election, the party contested. Some of these blunders were so severe, their consequences are still haunting Gambians. 
   
  The UDP started as a formidable force, capable of winning the first presidential election of the second republic. However, the preponderance of the party’s political moves was incompetent, illogical, and misguided. This lack of clear direction resulted into shattering the wishes and aspiration of the supporters. Indisputably, the leadership of the party is responsible for designing and adopting misguided political tactics and strategies. According to one Mandingo proverb, “you cannot insult the whole village and exclude the Alkalo,” in the same vein, you cannot exclude the leader from the failure of a group. Therefore, the failures of UDP are equally failures of Mr. Darboe’s leadership. Mr. Darboe has abundantly demonstrated to the Gambians his lack of suitable qualities to lead the Gambia in this generation. Our generation requires pragmatic, visionary, and servant leaders, who would not only vigorously advocate for the wishes and aspirations of the people, but must
 also, logically and consistently adopt concrete strategies to attain victory.
   
  I know some of the supporters of the UDP and Mr. Darboe would disagree with this analysis, but the facts I am about to present cannot be disputed. I think it is a national duty of every patriotic citizen to scrutinize our public officials in order to enlighten the people and catalyze a positive change process. The Gambia belongs to us all and it is our collective responsibility to develop it, which, I believe, cannot be attained without good leadership. I do not question Mr. Darboe’s intellectual abilities; he is one of the best legal minds in the Gambian. However, he has failed to translate his intellectual abilities into wisely leading UDP to political victory, only one mistake after another. 
   
  Let us take a close look at some of the mistakes Mr. Darboe and the UDP have made since the inception of the party. 
   
  The emergence of the UDP was an instant intimidation to the power-hungry AFPRC Military Junta and/or the APRC Political Party, due to the formidability of infant UDP support base. The majority of my friends, family, neighbors, and I supported UDP when it was first formed. We campaigned for Darboe and the UDP in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election, by risking everything, including our lives. This election was marred with violence; at least one UDP supporter was killed and scores were subjected to merciless beatings in the hands of the military, resulting into severe injuries. In the midst of all these, where was the party leader? According to reliable sources, the UDP leader sought refuge at a foreign embassy the night of the 1996 presidential election. Mr. Darboe who had the means to run, ran to the foreign embassy for cover, while his supporters were in the open, exposed to Jammeh’s power-hungry military and the Green Boys, better known as the July 22nd
 Movement. 
   
  The most important quality of a leader is the courage and guts to stand up unselfishly for the common good of the group. For the sake of argument, let us assume, the UDP actually won that election, one may wonder, who was there to claim the victory. Not the party leader, because he was in hiding at a foreign embassy. I wonder how then the wishes of the people can be fulfilled if their hero take on his heals even before the outcome of the contest is decided. 
   
  While this political blunder undermined the UDP leadership, it served as a political rallying moment for the Junta. Such cowardly actions have indeed emboldened the AFPRC/APRC in violating our constitution and other laws. Jammeh knows very well that the leadership of the main opposition party lacks the political will and moral fiber to stand head to head with him. This is why the Green Boys consistently harassed and intimidated the opposition while Jammeh is tightening his grip on the lives of Gambians.
   
  Instead of hiding, in the 2001 presidential election night, Mr. Darboe called and congratulated Jammeh for his victory. According to UDP sources, Mr. Darboe’s concession call was made without consultation with polling agents and party officials. A concession literally means the losing party in the contest certifies the outcome. Therefore, Mr. Darboe’s congratulation call to Jammeh implied that the election was free and fair from his point of view. How could the UDP leader concede defeat even before his soldiers returned from battle? Could this not be considered authoritarianism on the part of Mr. Darboe? I do not think Gambians would consciously replace a dictator with a dictator. It would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
   
  Within three months of his certification of the 2001 presidential election, Mr. Darboe and the UDP boycotted the proceeding parliamentary election. They cited lack of free and fair polling. I do not know what had changed within the three months because the status quo remained the same within the three months between the presidential election and the National Assembly election. The UDP boycott enabled the APRC to go unopposed in many opposition strongholds and winning all the seats except three. I think this misstep and others by the UDP gave president Jammeh legal but monarchical or absolute powers over the affairs of the Gambia. President Jammeh does not only possess absolute executive powers, he also possesses absolute judicial and legislative powers. Remember that a few months ago, the legislature amended the constitution to give power to the president to dissolve parliament at his choosing. All independent legislatures in the world tend to increase their powers rather
 than surrender them to the executive. This decision has also helped the APRC camp to enroot themselves in former UDP constituencies to swell their ranks, which implies that the UDP is losing support to the APRC. 
   
  In January 2005, all the opposition parties, except NCP formed a strategic alliance to dislodge APRC from power. On behalf the UDP, Mr. Darboe appended his signature on the legally binding document: The Memorandum of Understanding that created the National Alliance for Democracy and Development. The first few months that followed this historic achievement by the Gambia opposition, witnessed high sense of optimism among majority of Gambians who yearn for democracy and development. NADD generated wide support and acceptance among Gambians both at home and abroad. President Jammeh and his APRC became terrified and started acting desperately, even to the extent of arresting and detaining three executive members of the new powerful force. 
   
  However, this marriage, as predicted by critiques, did not only failed to survive the test of time, it also raised questions about the integrity of the Gambia opposition leaders. Some members of the alliance, did not have the political will and moral fiber to swallow their pride for the sake of the Gambia, they are fighting to lead. This time too, Mr. Darboe left his colleagues in limbo and took the route of go-alone. Then Mr. Bah and his NRP and some executive members of PPP also left NADD and joined Mr. Darboe’s UDP. According to many observers, the motive behind the NADD disintegration was the feeling that MR. Darboe, the leader of UDP, may not be selected as flag bearer of NADD. Remember that the NADD flag-bearer selection process was still ongoing when Mr. Darboe and Mr. Bah left. According to Mr. Darboe, he left NADD because of distrust among some executive members of the alliance. Why could Mr. Darboe not call a press conference to express his feelings to the
 Gambian people? Why he could not wait until all the provisions, relating to flag-bearer selection process was exhausted. If he just wanted to lead the alliance, he had all the chances in this world to lead it, through primaries. I still wonder why Mr. Darboe refused to call for the primaries, if he believed to have commanded the support among the supporters. 
   
  The Grand Alliance thought they were poised to win the election without the support of other opposition parties. Obviously, if you add the actual votes of the UDP and NRP for 2001 presidential election it would seem that they had the votes to win without the support of other opposition parties. However, politics is more complex and multi-facet than addition and subtraction. Mr. Darboe failed to realize that his party’s popularity has been dwindling, mainly due its misguided tactics and strategies. 
   
  Instead of improving their individual percentages of total electoral votes, both the UDP and NRP performed far worst that their 2001 percentages. One can argue that the low turnout and poor opposition performance are mainly due to the disintegration of NADD, which is indisputably caused by Mr. Darboe’s arrogance and impatience. 
   
  Unlike the previous presidential elections, this time around, Mr. Darboe and his alliance declared the 2006 presidential election result null and void, and filed election petition papers with the courts. In order to put this protest into its correct perspective, one must not overlook the fact that the Grand Alliance participated in the entire electioneering process without any major objection to the status quo. Surprisingly, the case was thrown out by the court for lack of interest on the part of the plaintiff. According to the Judge, Mr. Darboe failed to appear for hearings and the court concluded that the petition was abandoned by the plaintiff. 
   
  Furthermore, despite wide spread calls for a tactical alliance among the opposition, a few days ago, 37 UDP sponsored parliamentary candidates were nominated by the IEC to contest the forth-coming legislative election. Some of these candidates are running against other opposition candidates. 
   
  In the light of Mr. Darboe’s political blunders and for the sake of national interest, is it not fair to question Mr. Darboe’s leadership abilities? I think it is high time for Mr. Darboe to quit active politics and support the younger generation with vibrant ideas. He can serve as a senior citizen and leave others to lead the party. The UDP has become very effective and its integrity is disappearing into thin air. This manifested by the number of UDP supporters arrested and detained by the APRC government. How many UDP supporters are illegally detained or being detained by the government for no reason without attracting any protest from the party’s leadership? 
   
  Any Gambian who is yearning for democracy and development should support the NADD sponsored and assisted candidates. I think Voting for the UDP candidates is like voting for Jammeh.

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