Halifa You wrote:

"From a personal angle,  I have always maintained that democracy is the
 movement of the people for power from below, not mere declaration of
 principles and laws from above. Rights and good governance can only be
 ensured when the people themselves, in their villages, wards and communities
 are aware of those rights and principles of good governance and are
 organised and empowered to safeguard them.

The spirit of the recommendations manifest the principle of partnership and
 collective responsibility in ensuring a certain governance environment in
 the country. It is a right of every Gambian citizen, either as a person or
 in association with others, to call for any medium through which our
 collective liberty can be safeguarded."

The  ideals you mention here are the motivation that spurred the discussions,
and which eventually led to this great proposal by Dr Saine. To move us from
mere critics to active citizens who understand the power, and responsibility
of the average citizen in taking their representatives to task if they feel
that those representatives are found  to be unresponsive or indifferent to
those they are elected to serve.

No victorious group  here that is  exercising   magnanimity after having
won victory  in a struggle for liberation over an adversary, but rather,  the
contending forces here are the people whose desire is to see that all are
able to exercise the rights that are protected by our constitution.

It is also true that negligence on the part of the powers that be  due to a
desire to safeguard  personal interest is a strong possibility, but l hope
that all of us realize that it is the will of the Gambian people that is the
overiding factor  here, and that even though some of the parties that this
proposal is directed to may find it advantageous to ignore it, and hope it
just goes away,  we hope that this is not the case.On the other hand, we also
hope that  those who see this proposal as a stepping stone in the right
direction will continue to harness all the resources that will either make it
a reality  or until a climate of true democracy becomes the order of the day
in our country.

Thanks for your response Halifa, and we hope that the  Gambian government and
all the other political parties will consider this proposal and give us their
reaction. We look forward to yours.

Jabou Joh


In a message dated 1/4/00 10:28:16 AM Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:



 Jabou and Musa,

 Apparently, the message is directed to political parties among others. We
 have done a print-out and our Central Committee will  be deliberating the
 issue in due . In that regard, it will be difficult for me to respond from a
 party position prior to the discussion.

 From a personal angle,  I have always maintained that democracy is the
 movement of the people for power from below, not mere declaration of
 principles and laws from above. Rights and good governance can only be
 ensured when the people themselves, in their villages, wards and communities
 are aware of those rights and principles of good governance and are
 organised and empowered to safeguard them.

 The spirit of the recommendations manifest the principle of partnership and
 collective responsibility in ensuring a certain governance environment in
 the country. It is a right of every Gambian citizen, either as a person or
 in association with others, to call for any medium through which our
 collective liberty can be safeguarded.

 Of course, reconciliation is an act of bringing contending forces together.
 It presupposes a desire by the contending forces to sit down to talk. Such
 talks generally come when contending parties have mutually exhausted each
 other in their struggle for power and see no way forward than to sit down
 and establish a climate of peaceful co-existence.

 On the other hand, it can come through the exercise of magnanimity by an
 oppressed group which has become victorious in a struggle for liberation
 over an adversary.

 If one looks at the situation in Ivory Coast today, those who have taken
 over power can easily create a truth and reconciliation commission if they
 sincerely have the interest of Ivory Coast at heart. They do not have to ban
 any political party. They do not have to issue decree for the seizure of any
 property. They can bring all the civic associations, political parties and
 religious groups together to discuss about the future of the country. They
 can involve the whole nation in discussions of tolerance, unity and
 democratic participation from the village to the national level through the
 media on a non-partisan and non-sectarian basis.

 Political parties will be humbled and motivated to discuss all that was
 wrong in the governance environment and propose rules, guidelines and the
 institutional framework to rectify them. All judicial institutions can be
 made to work with greater degree of independence and impartiality to redress
 wrongs. The Auditor General's Office can be given all the authority to look
 into the performance of public administration and redress whatever wrongs
 obtain. In the process of transition, truth and reconciliation commission
 may be established to satisfy all the diversed functions mentioned by Dr
 Saine.

 Finally, those in power can be the overseer of a free and fair election
 where all political parties participate on an equal footing.

 This was an option for the coup makers immediately when they took over power
 in The Gambia. However, this option was not taken. There was interest in
 maintaining power and it has been retained. With power comes vested
 interest. With vested interest comes rigidity in positions that conserve
 vested interest.

 Of course, there is a second opportunity that could have undoubtedly
 facilitated the implementation of the proposals, that is, if President
 Jammeh was to declare to the Gambian people that he will only hold office up
 to the rest of this term and then call on all Gambians to come together to
 strategize on building a better future for The Gambia. This could have
 opened up a climate of dialogue to shape that future.

 In my view, if all the political figures in the country can, for once, put
 the dictates of reason, conscience and the national interest to the fore,
 the proposals would serve the nation in a splendid manner. However, as long
 as vested interest hold sway there will always be one stumbling block or
 another until a given proposal dies a natural death.

 Suffice it to say,  whether those involved will put vested interest aside or
  to the fore will determine the degree of success of the whole enterprise.
 This is my humble opinion. Notwithstanding, once the Central Committee
 reviews the message, we will communicate our views on a more concrete basis.


 Halifa Sallah. >>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------