One ballot. One chance. One candidate.

CAVEAT: I do not support nor endorse any party. This is just a sincere appeal to transform the Gambia.

By Capt. (Rtd.) Ebou Jallow

On 5 December, Gambians will decide whether a president who promised one term gets a third. Under first-past-the-post, there are no second chances and no runoffs. The candidate with the most votes wins, even with 40%.

That is how the opposition lost in 2021. Not because Gambians wanted five more years but because the opposition split its votes more than three ways, and handed the incumbent a victory he could never have won against a united front.

We cannot make that mistake again. And the arithmetic is clear about where unity has to be built.

The UDP is the foundation, not one option among many.

– It is the largest opposition party in the country, with roughly 28% in 2021, more than every other opposition party combined.

– It has the only nationwide machine: polling agents in every constituency, grassroots structures in every region, and the capacity to protect the vote on election day.

– It has already built a coalition. Gambia First brings together the UDP and six partner organizations. The door is still very open for both Halifa and Talib for a sincere dialogue.

Every other camp starts from a smaller base and would have to borrow the UDP’s voters and organization to compete. A coalition built around the biggest party is not domination. It is COMMON SENSE.

We have done this before.

In 2016, seven parties set aside their ambitions, united behind one candidate from the UDP, and ended 22 years of dictatorship. The UDP’s leaders were in prison when that coalition formed. They gave their endorsement anyway. That is the spirit we need now.

To the leaders of Coalition 2026 and Team Gambia:

Your supporters do not want three opposition candidates. They want one winner. A deal is still possible: a shared platform, a transition agreement in writing, cabinet seats for partners, and a commitment to the term limits Gambians were promised in 2016.

Nominations open in November. After that, every opposition candidate on the ballot is a vote for Barrow.

History will not ask who had the best logo. It will ask who was willing to unite. Wassalam and PEACE

See less

The post One ballot. One chance. One candidate. appeared first on Daily Observer Gambia .