{"id":91699,"date":"2025-12-10T15:15:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:06:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:06:12","slug":"islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls","title":{"rendered":"Islamic Scholars Coalition Backs UDP for 2026 Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>A coalition of Gambian Islamic scholars under the banner Ansar UDP has declared its support for the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) ahead of the country\u2019s 2026 presidential elections.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The endorsement was announced on Sunday at the Semega Janneh Olympic Hall, where Arabic scholars, supporters, and political stakeholders gathered for the event.<\/p>\n<p>Formed in 2020, the group brings together scholars from modern Islamic learning institutions and traditional majalis across Banjul, Kanifing Municipality, and the West Coast Region. It has since expanded to include members from all parts of the country. According to the coalition, its objective is to provide moral and religious guidance on national affairs amid what it describes as growing governance challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on behalf of the group, Momodou Lamin Jabbie said religious leaders have a duty to guide the public on major social and political issues. \u201cOur society is overwhelmingly religious. Naturally, the people competent to give a religious perspective to such issues are the Muslim and Christian scholars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Jabbie cited what the coalition described as the UDP\u2019s resilience during years of political tension, noting that some of its supporters had faced intimidation, arrest, and other forms of pressure. He said the party\u2019s endurance demonstrated its commitment to national progress. \u201cCompetence is measured not by words but by performance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>He also pointed to the party\u2019s long-standing opposition to dictatorship, corruption, and mismanagement, referencing the performance of UDP officials who served in the early Barrow administration before the political split. \u201cThe head of state himself commended their competence at the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on recent national concerns, Jabbie referred to findings in Auditor General reports that highlighted significant financial losses in state accounts, saying the revelations had \u201cpierced the conscience of the nation.\u201d He called for strong measures to restore accountability, adding that combating corruption was a \u201cmoral obligation owed to future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The coalition appealed to Arabic scholars across the country to rally behind the UDP in what it described as an effort to restore good governance and the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us commit ourselves to this responsibility and work together to lift The Gambia toward progress, dignity, and national renewal,\u201d Jabbie concluded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. A coalition of Gambian Islamic scholars under the banner Ansar UDP has declared its support for the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) ahead of the country\u2019s 2026 presidential elections. The endorsement was announced on Sunday at the Semega Janneh Olympic Hall, where Arabic scholars, supporters, and political stakeholders gathered for the event. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-91699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Islamic Scholars Coalition Backs UDP for 2026 Polls - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A coalition of Gambian Islamic scholars under the banner Ansar UDP has declared its support for the opposition United ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Islamic Scholars Coalition Backs UDP for 2026 Polls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A coalition of Gambian Islamic scholars under the banner Ansar UDP has declared its support for the opposition United ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T15:15:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T16:06:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765370127.380911.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Islamic Scholars Coalition Backs UDP for 2026 Polls\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T15:15:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-10T16:06:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765370127.380911.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/islamic-scholars-coalition-backs-udp-for-2026-polls\",\"name\":\"Islamic Scholars Coalition Backs UDP for 2026 Polls - 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