It is now clear that the NADD breakaway will no doubt give chance to dictator President Yahya Jammeh to further rule The Gambia at his own accord. Going by Sunday’s polls, the APRC could not have make it if the opposition were under one umbrella. Perhaps the APRC defeat will send a wake up call to opposition leaders that without a unified merger the opposition cannot succeed in their quest to change Jammeh through the democratic means.
Jung Conteh served as a chief prior to his election as APRC NAM. He was arrested and later accused of corruption by the government. For some reasons, the government decided to drop the corruption charges against Conteh.
Today, in Banjul and its surrounding towns many opposition families are shocked by the electoral outcome. The much anticipated APRC defeat had been turned around with Jung Conteh declared the winner.
Speaking to the Freedom Newspaper, an opposition supporter who was in tears blamed political leaders for the Kombo East defeat. "If they were united, the APRC cannot win. But due to greed and love for power the APRC is defeating them. This defeat is a major political set back for our opposition. I will not waste my time following leaders without political direction. They don't know what they wanted and are hell bent on undermining one another. I'm done with these sellouts."said the opposition supporter.
The opposition supporter appealed to NADD to please join UDP, whom he said is commanding major support across the country. "They should admit the fact that the UDP is the leading party and all parties should rally behind it. I will personally meet with Halifa to discuss this issue. They should come together and remove Jammeh. We are dying for nothing."the oppositon fan again cried.
On the other hand NADD supporters also feel that the UDP/NRP alliance should join them. What is evident is that the opposition are not united. They opposed one another for nothing.Many observers have also expresssed concern about the current state of affairs. They said it would be very hard to effect political change in The Gambia, under such a divided opposition.
NADD which was seen as Gambia's saviour fall apart following what many perceived as "power struggle amongst its leadership." UDP leader Ousainou Darboe pulled out from NADD citing lack of trust among other issues, a charge NADD officials denied. Few days later, Hamat Bah, Yaya Jallow of the UDP also tendered their resignations. A handful of former PPP officials also resigned from NADD and later defected to the UDP/NRP alliance.