Bolong Sonko Says UDP-Led Alliance Will Reject Ethnic Politics

Bolong Sonko has presented the GFC-UDP-led Alliance’s manifesto as a joint effort, saying its preparation showed how the coalition intends to govern if it wins power. Speaking at the document’s launch at Paradise Suites Hotel, the Gambia For All chief of staff said he was representing his party’s secretary general, Bakary B. Darboe, as well as the leaders of the coalition partners. According to Sonko, party leaders took part in shaping the manifesto, and he praised the UDP for consulting its partners before finalising the document. He said that even with limited time, the party waited for coalition members to join discussions and invited groups that had already prepared manifestos to submit them for harmonisation. Sonko argued that the process should reassure alliance members they would have a place in a government led by the UDP. He said the coalition jointly identified national challenges and agreed on measures to address them, describing the manifesto as a shared commitment rather than the work of one party alone. He also framed the document as a social contract that would allow citizens, journalists and opposition parties to hold elected officials accountable. In his account, it offers a route for translating campaign commitments into legislation and budget decisions, alongside a proposed legislative agenda and the alliance’s governing principles. With the December elections approaching, Sonko warned against politicians using ethnic identity to create fear or gain support. He said the coalition views the country’s diversity as a strength and rejected attempts to turn ethnic differences into political divisions. A UDP-led administration, he said, would seek to make that diversity a basis for shared progress, while operating under the rule of law.