As C'Wealth Ends Gambia's Suspension, Darboe Disappointed But



The Independent (Banjul)

September 10, 2001
Posted to the web September 10, 2001

PK Jarju
Banjul, the Gambia

In the wake of the Commonwealth's decision to end Gambia's suspension from
the organisation last week, the United Democratic Party leader Ousainou
Darboe and the APRC majority leader in the National Assembly Tamsir Jallow
have reacted differently over the issue.

Mr. Darboe the flag-bearer of the opposition coalition said he was
disappointed over the Commonwealth's decision to revoke The Gambia's
suspension at this time, arguing that The Gambia should have remained on the
list of suspended countries until after the elections before ending her
isolation. He added that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, CMAG
seemed to have concerned itself with the repeal of Decree 89 only while
other obnoxious decrees such as Decree 45 and Decree 70 and 71 are still in
force. He also said the failure to prosecute members of the security forces
for mowing down students last year is a factor that ought to have been taken
into consideration.




Mr. Darboe added that the Commonwealth should have thoroughly assessed
public opinion before making a decision to that effect. He criticized the
organisation for being hasty since the generality of Gambians would not want
to see an end to the suspension of The Gambia in view of the unsatisfactory
climate of governance.

On whether the decision is a bad judgement on the side of the Commonwealth,
Mr. Darboe said 'certainly if the Commonwealth had paid attention to
amendments of the constitution, which sought to weaken the Independent
Electoral Commission, which guarantees free, fair and transparent elections,
it would have received the signal that the government was up to no good".

On why he wouldn't join the government after seven years criticizing the
government's flaws without being heard by the international community,
Darboe stated that he and his colleagues would never stop highlighting the
weakness of the government. He said being silent or blind to the
government's flaws is to accept defeat.

On whether the decision by the Commonwealth was a victory for the APRC
government, Mr. Darboe replied that the government should not regard it as
such because it was made in haste. He believes that if the Commonwealth goes
back to the drawing board it would regret its decision.

However, in his reaction to the Commonwealth APRC majority leader at the
National Assembly Tamsir Jallow described six years of The Gambia's
suspension as unfair and unnecessary. He said the existence of Decree 89 did
not provide enough reason for the organisation to suspend The Gambia.
According to him the decree emanated from recommendations by the National
Consultation Committee instead of the AFPRC government.

He added that although in essence Decree 89 had cast a slur on our
democratic tradition "it depends on what we mean by democracy which is an
open-ended concept viewed by people in different perspectives". He posited
that democracy has to be rooted in the culture and life of the people it
serves.

Mr. Jallow who believes that the end of Gambia's suspension would augur well
for the APRC in its campaign at the grassroots level, however argued that it
has no significant impact on the APRC, whose members are preoccupied with
winning the hearts and minds of Gambians using a sound manifesto.

Tamsir maintained that the relationship between The Gambia and the
Commonwealth would improve for the better, adding that he could not reckon a
long-running disagreement between them because of a piece of legislation,
which is in the interest of Gambians.

This story is published courtesy of Citizen FM Radio Station





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