After Darboe was jailed in April 2016 for his political activities in opposition to the ruling government of Yahyah Jammeh and his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction party, the previous UDP deputy treasurer Adama Barrow was selected as its leader and candidate for the 2016 presidential election. The UDP then became part of the opposition alliance known as Coalition 2016, a group of seven political parties, and the Coalition endorsed Barrow as its candidate. Barrow officially resigned from the party to allow him to run as a formally independent candidate endorsed by the Coalition. Barrow then won the election in a surprise victory. When Jammeh refused to accept the election result, he was forced from office by a regional military intervention, and when Barrow won the election, Darboe was released from prison.