Comrade,

Allow me to express my excitement about all the contributions from different 
list members. I am sure all of us are not only learning a lot from one 
another, but the way the debate has so far been conducted is quite
encouraging, eventhough one should be righteously mad at learning about the 
behind-the-scenes attempts at manipulating the process of flagbearer 
selection.

Well, both sister Jabou Joh's and your input are ones that I could take to 
the bank. It is not so much as what you put in about PDOIS, Sidia and 
Halifa, but rather what you left out about UDP and Ousainou Darboe. True,
that should perhaps be left to those who support the Darboe nomination in 
its own right. The irony is, as you both know, I am not one.

[Sidia's resignation letter from government service is perhaps the first 
openly published document that captured the imagination of our generation 
and in condensed form exposed the decadence of PPP rule. I quoted that
section about his father's advise to him as a kid in an argument with 
Foroyaa way back in 1990].

So I agree that Halifa or Sidia is the ideal choice. But the most realistic 
choice I think is Ousainou Darboe, on account of the size of his power base.
Strategically, I have strong doubts as to the wisdom of selecting Halifa or 
Sidia as flagbearer now. They would have to jump from the process by 2011,
perhaps sending them into early retirement! I would like to see a full PDOIS 
government come 2011 by which time this  democratic revolution would have 
prepared the groundwork for a progressive agenda. And I am inclined to 
interpret Halifa's declining the nomination (as reported) in another light.

Finally, the question of trust is important. But if there are more than one 
thousand(!) NADD militants already, we can perhaps be assured that whoever 
leads NADD but eventaully balks from governing in the spirit of the MOU can 
be safely tucked away even before the five-year term runs out. The keyword 
is organisation.

With that, I will now wait till perhaps October.

Many thanks,
sidibeh

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