{"id":95719,"date":"2026-04-06T10:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/mama-kandeh-rules-out-udp-coalition-signals-third-force"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:44:37","slug":"mama-kandeh-rules-out-udp-coalition-signals-third-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mama-kandeh-rules-out-udp-coalition-signals-third-force","title":{"rendered":"Mama Kandeh Rules out UDP Coalition Signals Third Force"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Mama Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress, said his party would not enter into a coalition with the United Democratic Party, citing what he described as the opposition party\u2019s insistence on leading any alliance it joins.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Eye Africa, Mr. Kandeh said the United Democratic Party\u2019s stance leaves little room for negotiation, which he described as essential to coalition-building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy position remains the same,\u201d he said. \u201cGDC will not form a coalition with UDP because UDP has already said it will lead any coalition it joins. There is nothing to discuss, and coalition-building is all about negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Kandeh emphasized that opposition unity would be critical in mounting a viable challenge to the incumbent in the 2026 elections, noting that no single party is likely to command sufficient support on its own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCoalition is important because the numbers each of us has individually are not enough to unseat the incumbent,\u201d he said. \u201cBut coalition demands serious negotiations, and every party wants to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that the country\u2019s three largest political parties \u2014 the ruling National People\u2019s Party, the Gambia Democratic Congress, and the United Democratic Party \u2014 hold the bulk of electoral support, making any coalition that excludes them difficult to sustain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, NPP, GDC, and UDP have the numbers, and any coalition without these three political parties will be difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Mr. Kandeh signaled openness to an alternative alliance, suggesting that a so-called \u201cthird force\u201d coalition could emerge. He pointed to potential collaboration with Talib Ahmed Bensouda and Essa Mbye Faal, among others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this point, we are looking to see where we can all align to make that happen,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat matters is that The Gambia achieves the change it deserves in 2026. That is what GDC wants, and I believe that is what others want as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Mama Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress, said his party would not enter into a coalition with the United Democratic Party, citing what he described as the opposition party\u2019s insistence on leading any alliance it joins. In an interview with Eye Africa, Mr. Kandeh said the United Democratic Party\u2019s stance leaves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,10],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-parties","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>Mama Kandeh Rules out UDP Coalition Signals Third Force - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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