United Democratic Party (The Gambia)

The United Democratic Party is a conservative political party in The Gambia, affiliated to the International Democratic Union, founded in 1996 by the human rights lawyer Ousainou Darboe. As a candidate at the presidential elections of 18 october 2001, he came second with 32.6% of the popular vote. The last legislative elections, 17 january 2002, were boycotted by the party.

In 2005 UDP joined the opposition National Alliance for Democracy and Development which only lasted for a short term due to differences in opinion among the various leaders of the opposition. The UDP is the most popular opposition party in the Gambia, polling nearly 35% and and 27 % of the votes in the 2001 and 2006 Gambian presidential elections respectively (BBC News). However, due to suspicion of unfair voting practices the leader of UDP has declared openly that he is not willing to accept the results of the 2006 presidential election.

The motto of the United Democratic Party (The Gambia) is Justice, Peace and Progress and the party flag is bright yellow in color with a unity handshake depicted in the center (UDP Manifesto). The party practices two methods of memberships: a) individual and b) affiliate consisting of farmers' groups, trade unions, culture groups and youth groups etc.

The executive members of UDP include - Yaya Jallow, Ebraima Manneh, Amadou Taal, Lawyer Mariam Denton and Momodou N Shyngle Nyassi etc among others.

There has widespread reports in the Gambia of torture and arrests of UDP stalwart who claim to fight against an authoritarian government lead by President Yahya AJJ Jammeh of the ruling APRC party (IRIN News).

External links

• Official web site
• Gambian opposition claims fraud, BBC News, Sept. 25, 2006
• Manifesto