The deputy administrative secretary of United Democratic Party, Alhagie S. Darboe, has urged President Barrow to stop supporting his youth movement and drop his re-election bid.

Darboe, the National Asembly member for Brikama North, didn’t mince his words during his address to the UDP youth congress in Gunjur on Saturday. 

In what would be regarded as the opening salvo of a head-on collision between the former comrades, Darboe said his party would regard Barrow ‘an enemy’ if he continued to support his youth movement.  

“The UDP will consider President Barrow an enemy if he continues to back his Youth Movement because that group sees the UDP as an enemy and as such anyone who supports it including Barrow will be considered as an enemy of the UDP.

“Although the president has always said that his relationship with the vice president and leader of the UDP, Ousainu Darboe, is good, it is clear that his relation with the UDP (party) is not good because there is a group associated with him which sees the UDP as their worst enemy and he is fully supporting it. Today even the APRC is not seen as much of our enemy as that group.”

Darboe said Barrow should recognise the fact that he came from the UDP and should not allow political opportunists to drive a wedge between him and the party. 

He said no one individual or group could claim ownership of the Coalition government and that those who held positions from UDP knew that they were operating under the party’s directions.

Darboe said Barrow should not use his development agenda to further his re-election ambition adding that he needed to focus on his mandate as a transitional leader.

“There is too much noise in this country about the UDP and the person who caused all these unnecessary noise is our own son, President Adama Barrow, and it is only him who can end this distraction by doing what he is supposed to do. I told him that he is a transitional president and that he should remove himself from politics and focus on the issues that brought him to office.”