As Ndam Set Their Own Terms Opposition Coalition in Disarray?

http://allafrica.com/stories/200308290561.html

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
August 29, 2003
Posted to the web August 29, 2003

By Pa Modou Bojang
Banjul

Lamin Waa Juwara is set to cause emotive ripples in the precarious waters
of Gambian politics by his critical and brazen assertion that an opposition
alliance crystallized into a coalition is not the ultimate answer to the
country's political problems, epitomised by Yahya Jammeh's leadership.

He believes instead that the right endeavours should be geared
towards "improving the climate" for free and fair elections, which he
claimed has been denied Gambians for the better part of nine years.

Mr. Juwara who has a penchant for controversial political standpoints
strongly criticised the proposed idea of a coalition of Gambian opposition
parties as carrying the wrong signals about the political needs of the
country.

"An opposition coalition is not necessarily the solution. Only free and
fair elections, which have never been conducted since Yahya Jammeh came to
power can salvage Gambians from his kleptocratic rule" the leader of the
country's newest political organisation pointed out.

Mr. Juwara said the first step towards realising an election free from the
flaws and manipulations of the past two elections would be to ensure that
each political party is represented by a Commissioner in the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) with a view to determining the free and fair
nature of the next elections in three year's time. He said the other
opposition organisations are so immersed in the plot to dispense with
Jammeh's rule that they were already forgetting to right the electoral
wrongs that had riddled past polls, the results of which in his opinion
were a forgone conclusion of defeat for the APRC. He said it was his honest
opinion that this "tactical mistake" should be corrected before he could
lend his party's political weight to any ensuing coalition aimed at
plotting Jammeh's hegemonic downfall.

Although Juwara made it clear that NDAM was not ruling out the possibility
or doubting the viability of any opposition coalition, in the same breath
he emphasised that his party "would not run through the pattern of any
other party and we would never associate with any party if the priorities
are not clearly formulated that would ensure free and fair elections. We
cannot liberate the Gambian people, but we can lead them to liberate
themselves".

Mr. Juwara said the idea of an opposition coalition was "blown out of all
proportions and that was why, we are not making strident steps towards it".
According to Juwara as far as NDAM is concerned, "we were invited at the
Meet the Diaspora Summit in Atlanta to discuss the idea of an alliance - an
opposition alliance against Jammeh but suddenly everything was blown out of
proportion. The other opposition parties were sending the wrong signals by
trying to pave the way for the same man who had inefficiently led the
opposition in the last elections to lead them again. That cannot be
acceptable as far as we are concerned".

Mr. Juwara made pointing reference to the United Democratic Party leader
Ousainou Darboe and accused him of "blundering" in his supposedly indecent
haste to lead the opposition alliance in the last elections.

Juwara claimed that the opposition coalition of the past was being sucked
into the same politics of money, as was the trademark of the APRC regime,
which was so insecure that its leadership had resorted to reprehensible
vote buying and chicanery. He said a successful coalition must break from
that norm and espouse "clean politics", which would not only encourage
responsible politics but also help to differentiate between them and
the "irresponsible politics" of the ruling party.

"If money was the solution, we should be reminded that President Jammeh
with all the money at his disposal shouldn't have lost some percentage in
the last polls. Jammeh has shown that he will retain power by fair or foul
means. We could team up against him but the right political climate should
be there for it to be given any chance to succeed" he argued.


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