Well, now that the dust has settled, I hope Gambians can decide whether they 
want a united opposition, or to be blinded by greed.  This election was not 
won by the APRC, but rather, it was Greed that handed it to the APRC in a 
silver platter, which none here can say they did not see coming.  Up to, 
Saturday, we have seen the UDP supporters swear to the heavens that this is 
a take home for them, and were even cajoling of making preparations for a 
victory round.  Reminiscent of the 2001 elections when they calculated 
wrong, and it is deja vous all over again.  They indeed calculated wrong 
again.  Why is it that this group can never see or participate in anything 
that involves the collective?  NADD (collective) was and is still the hope 
of Gambians to liberate themselves.  None here can contest that the strength 
in NADD as a collective was equaled to any two or three parties and NADD has 
won more elections in their young life over the APRC, and would have won 
this election too.  By NADD, we are not talking about a personality but a 
collective.  It was the collective that was going to win not the UDP, NDAM, 
PPP, NRP, or PDOIS, just like when Kemeseng, Halifa, and Sidia won, not once 
but twice.  But, since this group is convinced that they are the center of 
the universe for Gambia, they can never see a group victory but an 
individual victory.

If the UDP is so strong in every part of the country, why did they not win?  
Let's look at the breakdown, shall we.

APRC 3365 votes; UDP 2814 of the votes, and NADD 1109 votes (these numbers 
may have been revised since, but it still remains that the APRC candidate 
won).  What happened with this picture?  For sure, the people voted their 
wishes, no matter how we slice it.  That is the painful nature of democracy 
and we cannot criticize them for voting the way they did, for that would 
equal to a revocation of their constitutional right.  Yes, I would have 
loved for them to not vote for the APRC, but I have to accept their wishes, 
and they will live with their choice, good or bad.  We also know that this 
was an APRC stronghold and the reason why they scored high.

Fact, the combined votes for UDP and NADD would have defeated the APRC 
candidate, if UDP was still part of NADD, please read me well.

For those that say NADD was a spoiler, the reasoning is very flawed for the 
UDP created a need for a three way race (by separating from NADD), thus, you 
cannot after your loss say if only we had the NADD votes.  By extension, you 
could also say if only we took a fraction or all of the votes from the APRC 
if their candidate was weaker, etc.  If NADD was not in this contest, you 
cannot also surmise that, therefore, the 1109 NADD votes would by default 
have all gone to the the UDP?  It would be a wild leap indeed.

If the UDP candidate ran and won under a NADD banner, the UDP would also be 
a winner.  Then, why is it that the UDP has a need for their name to be 
prominent in Gambian politics, even if it means that they loose in the 
process?  If the plight of Gambians comes first, why do they have an ulcer 
to run under any other name, like NDAM, PPP, or PRDOIS?  Gambians asked all 
the opposition to COME TOGETHER, not come and help UDP, for UDP is not 
synonymous to Gambian Opposition?  If UDP could win on their own, why would 
Gambians ask them to come together with others to win?

This bi-election was not a referendum on NADD, which the UDP supporters seem 
to jubilate about with their second seeding.  You get nothing for coming 
second.  For, if this were in the heart of Banjul, Sere Kunda, or other NADD 
strongholds, then what, does that mean a referendum on the UDP?  Just like 
any election in a country, parties, including the ruling party, have 
strengths and weaknesses in their support, depending on geography.  The UDP 
some how have convinced themselves that they are strong every where, but 
they can never have the votes to support that contention.  Every time they 
managed to pull the opportunists to join them and that is all they need, in 
their mind.  In this whole uproar, one would even forget that the NRP joined 
the UDP.  That is how it is arranged to work just like they did with the PPP 
in 2001.  You cannot be a partner, but a helper, for you are working for 
them and they will give you what ever trinket that they promised you.  
Today's Gambian doe not and will never need that.  As a matter of fact, that 
is the exact problem we are trying to get rid off.

Now, the UDP is instead of taking a pause and reading the tea leaves right, 
are beating their war drum of a solo flight with surrogates to give them 
wind.  They did that in 2001 and it did not work for Gambians, and are hell 
bent of doing the same, in 2006.  I am not here to convince any of the 
reality that Gambians wanted and still want a Unitedd opposition, but it 
behooves the UDP to remember that they are part of a collective and the 
collective is what is going to liberate Gambia.  Just like in 2001, they'd 
rather put Gambians through another 5 years of Yaya, than come together and 
honor the aspirations of Gambians.  In 2001, they also gave the APRC their 
current overwhelming majority in the Assembly, why, because APRC was going 
to steal the elections.  What has changed since then that they now contest 
NA elections?  They congratulated Yaya for winning in 2001, only to turn and 
claim that the elections were stolen.  Gambians would later hear what was 
the real reason for not participating in the 2001 NA elections, and it had 
nothing to do with election manipulation.

One can howl and puff all they want, but Gambians want a new Gambia and call 
for a continuation of what they started - a united opposition they came to 
know as NADD.  It is in deed laughable for some to call the reminder in 
NADD, to go join the UDP, because the UDP has a fetish for winner take all 
mentality, even while they continue to loose.  All, because they do not want 
to be part of the collective, but to be the collective.  They are too 
special for Gambians.  It is also very clear that what the UDP supporters 
supported was not NADD (collective), but the UDP (a party and a mindset).  
Is this a wake up call for the UDP?  Well, they will have to answer that 
question.  They also need to explain away their "100% money backed 
guarantee" that their candidate will win, that turned out a failed promise.  
If, plus/minus 8,000 votes were cast and you got about 3,000 in an election 
you thought you will win hands down, what is there to jubilate about?  In 
the end, your objective is not met, unless you are happy that you came 
second.  In sum, we all lost because it was greed that created this outcome.

Chi jaama

Joe



>From: "Yusupha Jow" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [>-<] BREAKING NEWS:APRC'S JUNG CONTEH WINS KOMBO EAST BY 
>ELECTIONS-THE OPPOSITION SHOCKED!!!
>Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 06:43:48 -0700
>
>Apparently, this was the breakdown per the Daily Observer:
>
>  Kombo East by-election APRC WINS [image: Print] <javascript:void
>window.open('http://observer.gm/enews/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4417&Itemid=33&pop=1&page=0',
>'win2',
>'status=no,toolbar=no,scrollbars=yes,titlebar=no,menubar=no,resizable=yes,width=640,height=480,directories=no,location=no');>
>[image:
>E-mail] <javascript:void
>window.open('http://observer.gm/enews/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=4417',
>'win2',
>'status=no,toolbar=no,scrollbars=yes,titlebar=no,menubar=no,resizable=yes,width=400,height=250,directories=no,location=no');>
>Written
>by Lamin M Dibba     Monday, 15 May 2006  Mr Jung Conteh, the candidate for
>the ruling APRC in the May 14 Kombo East by-election, has swept the polls 
>by
>a lead of 551 votes over his closest contender Lamin R Darboe of the 
>UDP/NRP
>alliance.
>A total of 7288 people voted in the elections out of which 3365 voted for
>the APRC candidate, Mr Conteh. The remaining 3923 votes were shared between
>the UDP/NRP and the Nadd. Mr Darboe took 2814 of the votes, while Momodou
>Lamin Touray of the Nadd took the remaining 1109. The gap between Mr Darboe
>and Mr Touray is 1705 votes. This means that 46 per cent of the votes
>
>I guess Ousainou Darboe will ultimately learn that his rather selfish act 
>of
>pulling out of NADD is very likely to give us another 5 yrs of Jammeh. The
>less of selfish and arrogant politicians like Ousainou Darboe and Co, the
>better our chances of a Yaya-less Gambia.
>
>Thanks!
>Yusupha
>
>
>
>On 5/14/06, Ousman Gajigo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>  Assuming this is true (after all, we are talking about Pa Nderry's
>>reporting), all I can say is: I AM NOT SURPRISED BY THIS RESULT.
>>
>>Ousman
>>
>>ps. thank good the semester is over. Now if we could just get some
>>sunshine in Wisconsin...
>>
>>

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