It's barely a year ago!
Regards,

Kabir.


OPPOSITION PARTIES UNITE 
By Surakata Danso and Sarjo Camara

Representatives of five opposition political parties appended their signatures on an agreement known as the Memorandum of Understanding at Palm Grove Hotel on Monday 17th January 2005 in the presence of supporters and independent observers. The Memorandum of Understanding is supposed to bind the five political parties in their pronouncements and actions during the period of their union. 

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishes an alliance known as the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD). NADD is not only interested in replacing the ruling party but to effect far reaching changes in governance. Hence, according to the MOU the goal of the alliance is to put an end to self-perpetuating rule and unsure the empowerment of the people. Furthermore, a presidential candidate shall be selected in due course but in the spirit of averting self-perpetuating rule the elected president is not permitted by the MOU to serve for more than one term or to even give support to a presidential candidate. The members of the executive who comprise two members of each political party emphasized in their statements that NADD has come into being in order to carry out rectification. 

The signing ceremony was opened by the chairman of the provisional coalition Mr. Assan Musa Camara. He was later elected as the chairman of NADD at the end of the signing ceremony. His opening statement is published in this issue. After the opening statement the entire text of the MOU was read by the Coordinator of the provisional coalition Halifa Sallah. He was later elected Coordinator of NADD. After this two representatives of each political party was invited one after the other to sign the MOU. The party leaders were then called upon to sign a declaration committing themselves to the letter and spirit of the MOU. The ceremony ended with a press conference by the coordinator. 

NADD COORDINATOR HOLDS PRESS BRIEFING

Halifa Sallah, who as on Monday elected Coordinator of the Opposition Coalition, has indicated that the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD), which will be registered as a political entity, will have its own colour, emblem and motto.

Sallah said the Presidential Candidate for the Alliance in the forthcoming presidential election will be selected by the Executive Committee of the Alliance by consensus, and if that fails, they will resort to primaries.

"The term of the first President Elect of the Alliance will be only one five year term, and that person is a candidate of the Alliance, and will not support a political party and will not stand for a second term," he remarked.

Sallah said the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the leaders of the various political parties will be translated into local languages and Arabic and published for every Gambian to have access to it.

"There will be a mass distribution of this memorandum. We will be translating it in the local languages and put it in cassettes, and disseminate the cassettes. We want the people to understand what the Alliance is all about, to see that it is above political parties. It is a supreme organ to which all member parties agreed to surrender part of their sovereignty. We want that to be understood. At the launching, its motto, its emblem, its symbol and colour will also be disseminated," he remarked.

He said the Technical Committee will work out a Code of Conduct and each party is supposed to take that Code of Conduct to sensitize its members, so that if they stand on a political platform that will guide them.

"In that sense, we hope we will introduce a new brand of politics in The Gambia, one that is based on maturity, one that is based on the popular interest. Lastly, the state media is supposed to disseminate divergent views according to section 207 of the constitution. That is the requirement. We are going to insist on that. We want to be seen as an alternative government," he posited.

He said they will appeal to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to reconvene the multi-party committee so that all political parties will meet periodically to look at the democratic process.

"Democracy is more than voting. The whole process of public sensitization, the whole process of how you translate your programme to the people matters and the Elections Decree which the IEC is supposed to administer states categorically that the objective of a political party is to disseminate its programmes and policies to the wider public. This means the state media should be open and we are going to work very hard to make sure that is respected," he remarked.

STATEMENTS BY POLITICAL LEADERS


STATEMENT BY LAMIN WAA JUWARA OF NDAM

What we have formulated here today is a commitment to make sure that we free our country. Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam once said that the freedom of the Vietnamese people is as precious as the life of each and every Vietnamese. We are undertaking to free the Gambian people. This is a task that no individual can accomplish alone. It is a task for the entire Gambian people, including those on the other side of the political divide. We want them to come and join us. What is at stake here is not an electoral alliance. It is more than electoral alliance. What we want to achieve is to make sure we prevent what has happened in our sister republics from happening to The Gambia. And the only way to do that is to be united, to stand and be counted and wake up from our slumber. That is the message to be given to every Gambian in every hamlet and we will not spare any effort not to do that. 

Our lives have been reduced to arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture and imprisonment. The time has come for the Gambian people to show the rest of the world that Gambia has been sliding gradually to conflict. We are people of peace and we will make sure that we stem that process and restore sanity in our home. What I have seen today and in the past months have done a lot to give us courage, because people of conscience have started to speak. You must remember, there is no easy road to peace. What we are doing today is not just electioneering but to rectify everything that has gone wrong so that we will gain our respectability among nations despite our small size. 

HON. HAMAT N.K. BAH, SECRETARY GENERAL, NRP

We in the National Reconciliation Party have accepted the idea of an alliance of opposition parties in our beloved country because it has become a successful method of removing incumbents from power. Besides, this unity has become a necessity in the interest of strengthening our democracy. Our party is convinced that if the alliance succeeds it is capable of creating a secure society where people can participate either directly or indirectly in every aspect of national development without fear of intimidation or harassment. 

Mr. Chairman, colleagues in the prospective alliance, invited guest, ladies and gentlemen, Gambians are more than ever before longing for a Gambia devoid of tribalism, provocation, character assassination and impunity. We are fighting for a Gambia that would be endowed with a leadership that would be sensitive to the plight of their people, a leadership that would manifest total respect for human and peoples' rights, good governance, the right to freedom of _expression and of the press and divergent views as enshrined in our constitution. And more so respect for the legislature and the judiciary. A leadership that would preserve and depoliticise our traditional institutions so as to strengthen national unity. Production center for the sub region for employment generation.

SIDIA JATTA, CHAIRPERSON PDOIS

This signing ceremony is not a drama. We are not actors and actresses. You are not spectators. This is history in the making and we are all part of the process. 

This is why we became a Republic in 1970. We moved from a country where sovereignty resided in the British crown to a country where sovereignty resides in the people and the country. They should say how this country is to be governed. Any government must derive its legitimacy from the people and it can only maintain its legitimacy by enhancing their liberty and prosperity. This is why we in PDOIS are inspired by the goal of the Alliance. "The goal of the Alliance is to put an end to self-perpetuating rule, ensure the empowerment of the people so that they can participate in sustainable development." 

Empowerment is what the sovereign citizens of the Gambia lack. This is why they are yet to fully become the owners of the country. An owner must have the power to decide what is to be done with his or her property. The Gambian people are yet to display such sense of ownership of the Gambia. 

An owner must be able to hold those he/she entrusts with the management of his/her property accountable. The people in the Gambia are yet to assume such a responsibility. The fact each of us should realize is that the Gambian people have the power to check any abuse of authority by their leaders. This is why they have the power to cast their vote every five years. They can change representatives who happen to misrepresent them every five years. This is why they should see their vote as means of expressing their power and have their say on how their country is run and who will run it on their behalf, it does require insults, slander, antagonism, sectionalism, tribalism, religion and intolerance. This is the moment of truth and the moment of decision. The Alliance should give the facts to the people and the truth shall enable them to know how to exercise their sovereign powers to determine who is to be given their affairs.

We in PDOIS have long advocated for the slogan that representatives are mere public trustees or servants of the people. This is corroborated by section 112 of the constitution, which states:

"The responsibilities of the members of the National Assembly shall include the following -

(a) all members shall maintain the dignity of the National Assembly both during the sittings of the National Assembly and in their acts and activities outside the National Assembly;

(b) all members shall regard themselves as servants of the people of The Gambia, desist from any conduct by which they seek improperly to enrich themselves from the people, and shall discharge their duties and functions in the interest of the nation as a whole and in doing so shall be influenced by the dictates of conscience and the national interest." 

This is the type of leadership that the country needs in. the 21st century. 

We in the PDOIS are inspired that we have not come together to form an alliance just to share positions and benefits. We have mutually pledged that the protection of the people and National -Interest shall be our supreme goal. We have made our goals public so that our practice shall be judged by our precepts. We vow that we will never be found wanting in backing percepts with practice. This is the challenge posed by our generation. We want to assure all of you that we will equal the challenge.

MR. OUSAINOU DARBOE, SECRETARY GENERAL AND PARTY LEADER OF THE UDP

It is with a great sense of pride and achievement that I participate in this historic and groundbreaking event. It is an event that is the climax of months of frank and sincere discussions among the five signatory Parties. This has been possible because of our patriotism and the love we have for our dear country. This event demonstrates that the opposition parties in the Gambia can subordinate party interests to supreme national interest and this is what makes it extremely significant.

A few years ago, indeed a few months ago, nobody would have thought that this was possible. As a matter of fact, when the inter party talks began skeptics prophesied that they will lead to nowhere. They had under estimated the yearning of the majority of the Gambian people for a better Gambia, a Gambia in which peace will reign in the streets and in all corners, a Gambia where the rule of law will be supreme, and where there will be justice and fair play for all citizens, a Gambia where there will be tolerance and understanding at all strata of society, a Gambia where security for every one is assured. This is the new Gambia' that we aspire to create for ourselves and for generations yet unborn.

Mr. Chairman, as we append our names and signatures to this Memorandum of Understanding, we open a new page in this country's history. We are confident in the rightness of our cause and the justice of our mission. We believe that this is the right path to rescuing our country from the decadence and ruin in which it has been plunged. The present Administration has failed this country and the entire country is crying out for change and this Alliance we have just established will serve the Gambian nation as the vehicle for the change it so much needs and deserves.

Mr. Chairman, today we rededicate and once again commit ourselves to bringing change through the ballot box, change with the consent of the people, the will of the people and the hearts of people.

Let the whole world bear witness that we, representing the majority of the Gambian population, have solemnly decided to come together and work together for the common good of all Gambians and we invite all Gambians who have concern for the welfare and future of this country to join us in this crusade to salvage our country and re establish the lost dignity and respect for all Gambians both within the country and abroad. This is a sacred duty for all Gambians

This event is as significant as it is historic. Never in the annals of post colonial history has any country in Africa or anywhere else, experienced a situation when all parties outside the government came together to form an alliance. We know therefore, that we will succeed because the masses are with us and behind us.

Omar A. Jallow (O.J.) Secretary General of the Peoples Progressive Party

Today is a good day, because it has taken almost two years for us to get to where we have gotten to today. After painstaking and genuine negotiations on the way forward, after months, and weeks and days and nights of placing together a plan of action for the people of this country, who have called on us to come together as one party, I can today say that we have answered that call. Today Ladies and gentlemen we (NDAM, NRP, PDIOS, PPP and UDP) have put our differences aside, focused on our common objective, which is the common wish of most Gambians and joined forces to form a National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD).

It is this because the youth, women, and men of this country yearn for an opportunity to choose a better alternative party in a little less than twenty months from now. The past and the present situations in Gambia have taught us that things cannot continue as they are. The Gambia cannot afford to continue to be governed the way it has been. As long as our schools remain over crowded, our teachers and nurses under paid, our youth unemployed, our civil service politicized and inefficient, our media threatened, freedom to state what is right censored, our nation divided, our economy collapsing, and poverty rising, the future will remain bleak.

And that is why we all must move in a different direction; a new direction that seeks to improve the lot of the majority. A future that guarantees opportunity to all, for all, and by all to speak freely, live freely, and be able to provide for one's family daily. 

Today is a good day, ladies and gentlemen, because we have seen the light peep over the dark clouds that have covered this nation for over a decade now.

We have heard the rolling thunder pass over the land and yet we fear not its threats but are emboldened and encouraged by this new dawn. From this day on we know we are living in a time of rejuvenated hope, a time of work together for the common good. A time of sincerity to our selves, to each other and most importantly to those who have asked for this Alliance, the Gambian People.

The Gambians abroad have also played a key role in strengthening the need for a viable, vibrant and emboldened alternative in Gambian politics. Our thanks go to all of them who have supported, challenged and facilitated in many ways the journey that has led to this new arrival today NADD, since the first forum two years ago in Atlanta.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the coming months NADD will need every single person that wants this country to move forward; toward a direction of justice, freedom, economic opportunity, liberty, and security for all, irrespective of gender, creed, economic status or ethnic origin. We will need the intellectuals, the professionals, the artists, the laborers, the market women, the farmers, the youth groups, the unions, the associations, village communities and everyone, to come together and join NADD in this journey toward 2006.

We will unveil the manifesto, choose our candidate and ask for volunteers to help with fundraising, campaigning and voter mobilization as well as civic education. There is much work to be done. But we started years ago, even though this is just the beginning, a new day has come- for you, for me, for all of us, for our children, for The Gambia our homeland, because today is a good day!

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