*"It has been suggested in some quarters that the registration of NADD might not have been a significant factor in its disintegration since there was a time lapse between the registration and the withdrawal of the UDP and NRP from the organisation. This is ludicrous." -*UDP/UK as quoted by bailo * Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, leader of the UDP had ealier described the registration of NADD as a political party as a disaster. If the registration of NADD as a political party was near a disaster or even a significant factor as the UDP claims, then the UDP would have indeed been more believeable had they withdrawn before initial attempts to select a flagbearer for NADD failed rather than after it. If the registration of as a political party was indeed a disaster or even a significant factor as the UDP keeps conveniently claiming then what about UDP’s followed NRP’s decision to quit NADD? I do not think that it would be far-fledged for one to assert that UDP and NRP’s pull-out from NADD represented the ultimate disaster for NADD and perhaps the most significant factor for the Alliance’s disintegration. How could NADD not have disintegrated with the pull-out of its biggest factions? Honestly, blaming Halifa is merely a convenient ploy by the both the UDP and NRP to distract Gambians from the real reasons for the collapse of NADD. Under Section 8 of NADD's MOU, all political parties agreed to equality of voting weight regardless of their size and past election results.* -Bailo The quotation above in respect of the UDP/UK release is incomplete and therefore incomphrensive of the UDP/UK position on this specific point.This is what UDP/UK release stated; *''It has been suggested in some quarters that the registration of NADD might not have been a significant factor in its disintegration since there was a time lapse between the registration and the withdrawal of the UDP and NRP from the organisation. This is ludicrous. Shortly after it became clear that NADD was registered as a political party, the UDP leader informed its executive [NADD’s executive] that he would consider his position within the organisation in the light of the new development. The decision to withdraw required a process that had to be exhausted with all relevant factors and issues including subsequent ones, examined before a final decision could be made. Thus, what was of essence to the UDP was making the right decision, and indeed they have done that and at the right time.''* I hope this helps, and thanks for your comments. Regards Daffeh On 9 August 2010 13:06, bailo jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In the immediate aftermath of the Gambia's opposition unprecedented > dismal performance during the last Presidential elections, I was so much in > disbelief that I alleged massive vote rigging as a key factor for the > elections outcome. I recall some of my fellow online political pundits > notably Junkung Kujabi insisting otherwise and instead attributing most of > the blame on opposition disunity. I nonetheless considered it prudent to > consult with many people as I could for the reasons of the opposition's > generally disappointing results. One of those I checked with was a good > friend of mine who had served as a polling agent for one of the opposition > factions. He blamed voter apathy to such an extent that if voter apathy was > a candidate in the elections, I would have concluded that my friend had a > personal grudge against candidate Voter Apathy. Actually, unfortunately > because of the disillusionment arising from high hopes of the people > which were shattered by NADD fall-out, many opposition supporters succumbed > to apathy and stayed away from voting. That is what gave a seemingly > stronger mandate to a genuinely unpopular dictatorship. > > > Following the NADD debacle what has become indisputable within the > oppositions ranks which founded and constituted NADD is that the demise of > the original NADD was a major turn-off for the opposion electorate. What is > still disputed within opposition supporters is this : W*hat was the most > significant variable that led to the collapse of the original NADD ? * And > as far as key members of the UDP are concerned, particularly the UDP-UK > branch, their usual resort is to blame Halifa Sallah of PDOIS. They argued > that : > > *"It has been suggested in some quarters that the registration of NADD > might not have been a significant factor in its disintegration since there > was a time lapse between the registration and the withdrawal of the UDP and > NRP from the organisation. This is ludicrous**.**"* > > > > Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, leader of the UDP had ealier described the > registration of NADD as a political party as *a disaster*. If the > registration of NADD as a political party was near a *disaster *or even a > *significant factor* as the UDP claims, then the UDP would have indeed > been more believeable had they withdrawn before initial attempts to select a > flagbearer for NADD failed rather than after it. If the registration of as a > political party was indeed a *disaster *or even a *significant factor* as > the UDP keeps conveniently claiming then what about UDP’s followed NRP’s > decision to quit NADD? I do not think that it would be far-fledged for one > to assert that UDP and NRP’s pull-out from NADD represented the ultimate > disaster for NADD and perhaps the most significant factor for the > Alliance’s disintegration. How could NADD not have disintegrated with the > pull-out of its biggest factions? Honestly, blaming Halifa is merely a > convenient ploy by the both the UDP and NRP to distract Gambians from the > real reasons for the collapse of NADD. Under Section 8 of NADD's MOU, all > political parties agreed to equality of voting weight regardless of their > size and past election results. The relevant provision states thus : > > > > *‘‘The selection of the candidate of the alliance for the presidential, > National Assembly and Council elections shall be done by consensus; > provided that in the event of an impasse section shall be done by holding a > primary election restricted to party delegates on the basis of equal number > of delegates, comprising the chairman, chairwoman and youth leader of each > party from each village/ward in a constituency.’’* > > * > * > > The undeline is mine to highlight the most significant reason leading to > the demise of NADD. However for reasons best known to them, the UDP > leadership willingly and without duress committed their party to NADD’s > MOU which they later deemed not to be fair given their larger size within > the opposition. In quitting NADD, The UDP wanted to lead a UN Security > Council-like status within the opposition after the party’s leader felt that > the equal say with minor opposition parties such as NDAM, PPP and PDOIS > under a UN General Assembly format it had signed up to under NADD was not > delivering the desired effects for them. > > > > The collapse of NADD was therefore generally a collective failure of > leadership within the opposition ranks which if it were in a mature > democracy would have prompted the entire involved opposition leadership to > refrain from contesting further Presidential elections. Realistically, the > Gambians who are yearning for real changes must make do with the current > opposition leadership and work towards attaining a tactical alliance in the > next Presidential election. The insistence by some UDP supporters or > personalities for smaller opposition parties like PDOIS to simply surrender > to their party’s expectations is unrealistic wishful thinking. It is > never going to happen. Any agreement between the opposition factions would > have to be preceded by serious negotiations based on mutual respect. > > > I still believe that Ousainou Darboe should be given a chance as the only > presidential contender for the opposion against the incumbent provided that > the UDP irrevocably agrees to key safeguards for averting similar false > promises that the AFPRC made to the Gambian nation on July 22 1994. > > > Bailo > > > > > > > > > > > > ¤¤ > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the > List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask]¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤