Thanks Mr. Samateh for your response. You raised an interesting scenario
that frankly I did not think about. But you are right to point out that I
will not condone electoral malpractice even if APRC is the victim. I think I
had gone on record once saying that if Yaya was to be forcibly removed
(because I don't believe he can be removed through the ballot box. This is
another topic and I think Hamjatta's brilliant piece the other day echoed
most of my feelings), it should not necessarily follow that APRC should be
banned like Yaya undemocratically banned the PPP and other politicians. This
does not however mean that Yaya will be allowed to contest. Yaya has a lot
of questions to answer and if he is convicted of just one felonious offense,
it would be justifiable to ban him personally. Note here the criteria for
banning him. The same thing applies to every citizen. You can argue that
such a move can de facto spell the demise of the APRC because it is
controlled by criminals and therefore if the top echelon are banned, the
party will cease to exist. I do not think there is anything wrong in having
laws that say that felons are not allowed to run for office. This is of
course just a personal opinion. If Gambians want a Constitution that allows
the likes of Yaya to run for office, I can live with that too. But if Yaya
is tried before an impartial court of law and convicted of heinous crimes, I
will gladly support any move to ban him. So no, I don't think I can see
myself advocating for Yaya's participation in an elections back home. I am a
firm believer that if a system is unfair, it will just lead to anarchy. Some
of these views might sound idealistic, but we can achieve our goals if we
set high standards for our leaders. If we are all motivated to try and do
what is right and not follow our own selfish desires, the country will be a
better place. I think we should all raise these 'fairness' issues with all
our leaders back home. We have to spell out the rules at the onset and make
sure we consistently apply them. When we set those rules, we should have the
interest of Gambia paramount in our minds and not the interests of Yaya or
Darboe or certain individuals if those interests conflict with the national
interest. I hope I answered your questions adequately. I must say that am
feeling a little down after witnessing the Americans reward mediocrity by
voting George Bush into office (so far).
KB



>From: Saikou Samateh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Ivory Coast: Reflections on people power
>Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 01:10:36 -0000
>
>Mr Dampha,
>
>I hope I did not keep you waiting long.However yours was an interesting
>reading.As you might find out,this is not just a question of principles for
>me.You did mention that if the same thing should happen in the Gambia you
>will maintain the same position.You gave an example,and as you indicated
>this was just an example to reason out your point.Here is another one;
>I was also talking to myself,saying,if mr Johnsson should ban the AFRC from
>contesting the elections in the Gambia and only 30% of  eligible voters
>happen to vote and Darboe wins the elections,would Mr Dampha call for a new
>election because the AFPRC,that might likely win the elections,were banned
>from contesting ?I mean in principle !Would you call the international
>community to put pressure on the Darboe government if it fails to call for
>new elections and unless the AFPRC is allow to contest ?Would you
>definitely
>use the Gambian tax payers money for a re-election just to allow the AFPRC
>to contest ?It seems to me that you will do it,since for you ,as you
>indicated,it does not matter who is affected,you just want to see justice
>done.
>
>For Freedom
>Saiks

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