Dampha, Hamjatta and co.,

I hate to tell you this, but do not start jubilating yet. According to
FOROYA, "as of 7th August Mr. Assan Musa Camara submitted a one page
proposal on a coalition to the UDP and PDOIS. The NRP leader was out of
town."

The sending of feelers.

The same paper futher states: "It is true that no formal meeting has taken
place between the registered political parties since the declaration was
made to repeal decree 89. Meeting has taken place between PPP, NCP and GPP.
The NCP and PPP have made a decision to register their political parties.
The GPP leader made a decision not to register the party before the coming
presidential and National Assembly elections".

FOROYAA continues "The NCP members hold that most of the UDP National
Assembly members are from the NCP whilst the PPP members see themselves as
the former ruling party. They claimed that they have the funds which
provided sponsoreship to the UDP in the previous elections. It appears that
such parties are therefore under the pressure to come back to the forefront
in Gambian politics.
   On the other hand they cannot come to the forefront unless they take
their membership back from mainly the APRC and UDP.
   Analysts maintain that while the APRC can hold on to their former PPP and
NCP supporters by offering them privileges it is the UDP which could be
negatively affected by the emergence of the banned parties on the political
stage. What to do has been a source of speculation.
   At the moment NO FORMAL MEETING HAS TAKEN PLACE (emphasis, mine) between
the UDP, NRP and PDOIS which are the ACTIVE REGISTERED PARTIES(emphasis
mine) in the opposition.
   UDP HAS HELD RALLIES AND INVITED THE OPPOSITION PARTIES TO JOIN THEM BUT
THIS HAS NOT MATERIALISED". Emphasis mine.

Foroyaa's advise:

"Foroyaa wishes to advice the leaders in the opposition to know that Gambia
has its first great opportunity to make a new start to build a sovereign
republic, with democratic constitution, institutions and practises that will
set the country on the road to genuine democracy".

"Foroyaa cautions that no conspiration meetings be held by the opposition
with a view of putting up agendas that are agreed upon in secret. If certain
persons have already decided on their participation as presidential
candidates and are just looking for endorsement from other parties that
should be done on a party to party basis rather calling for a coalition. A
minmum programme is necessary if there is to be a presidential candidate and
must be someone who stands a chance in winning the support of APRC
supporters especially the youths. If any opposition party disagrees with
such an agenda then it should state its own for discussion. It is important
to have an understanding before any meeting is called to establish a
coliation. Any disagreement or one group endorsing something opposed by
other groups would be unsatisfactory".

"There are suggestions on the ground for an alliance for democratic
transition to empower the people and an alliance to share power. This does
not leave the opposition with prospect of unity unless one agenda is adopted
by all.
   While the proposal for alliance on democratic transition has been made
public, the proposals for alliance to share power is still in its
formulation stage. It is yet to be made public. This is the source of
uncertainty".

Now Dampha and co. what do you make of this coming from Foroyaa? How come
you, who is living in cloud-cuckoo-land, seem to be so sure of a coalition,
infact more sure than even one of the parties that is supposed to be one of
the coalition members? Doesn't it sound strange to you that up now, none of
the decree 89 politicians has answered the UDP call to join them in their
rallies? If PDOIS, which is one of the most sober parties this country has
ever had, can openly state its position with regards to a coalition and even
the modalities under which it is prepared to get involved, how come the
these socalled veteran politicians still don't seem to have an agenda?

Now that the PPP has openly told Gambians (what most suspected from the
beginning) that the UDP was just like a front for them, what are the chances
of reconciling them with such a principled party as PDOIS? Get real my
friend. The only thing binding some of the opposition members is their
hatred of Yahya Jammeh. Most of them are a spent force that have nothing to
offer Gambians other than corruption, misrule and revenge. Period. The APRC
have elevated us to such a height, in terms of political awareness that any
party that cannot explain what agenda you have for the betterment of all
Gambians may as well look for another job.

Finally, the president recently donated seventeen (17) Man and Mercedez Benz
trucks to our security forces. For information about it and the pictures,
speeches and jubilation visit the following web pages:

http://www.jammeh.com/clips/
http://www.jammeh.com/newtrucks/
http://www.jammeh2001.org/welcome.thml

Like I have stated before, THE FIRST REPUBLIC IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE SECOND
REPUBLIC!

Have a good day, Gassa.

>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: THERE WILL BE AN OPPOSITION ALLIANCE  (Soon)
>Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 12:35:03 -0400
>
>The final nail has just been registered on Yaya’s coffin. The work our
>leaders on the ground have been putting in during the past few weeks have
>finally bore fruit. THERE WILL BE AN OPPOSITION ALLIANCE to fight the
>October Presidential Elections. According to irrefutable information coming
>from Banjul, ALL the Opposition Parties (UDP, PDOIS, NRP, PPP, NCP, GPP)
>have agreed in principle to form a coalition to fight Yaya in October.
>
>There are one or two sticking points, but these issues are negotiable and
>will NOT prevent the formation of the Alliance. I will NOT dwell on those
>issues out of respect for our leaders on the ground. We continue to pray
>for
>them to reach a consensus as soon as possible and announce the structures
>of
>the Coalition before the end of the week. We need to move quickly and
>present a United Front that is going to register a resounding defeat on
>Yaya.
>
>I am confident that when the leaders announce the modalities of the
>Coalition, all well-meaning Gambians will be happy with the outcome.
>Opposition supporters would have realized that their leaders put the
>interest of The Gambia at the forefront (overshadowing narrow
>Party/personal
>interests). I cannot express in words how proud I am to hear that our
>leaders WILL come together to fight the menace in our society. The maturity
>shown by these leaders in recent days, is highly commendable. They managed
>to take themselves above the pettiness coming from APRC stalwarts aimed at
>bringing discord in the Opposition. Attempts from APRC to pit one party
>against the other have woefully failed. Our leaders are smart enough to
>recognize that removing a child murderer from a position of power in the
>country, is more urgent than fighting over old battles that cannot be
>redressed now.
>
>I wish the leaders all the best. I hope they communicate effectively to
>their respective constituents and explain to them the benefits of joining
>an
>Alliance aimed at removing the Dictatorship back home. Above all, I look
>forward to the day when all these leaders will stand on one platform and
>endorse one leader to defeat Yaya. The endorsement should be followed with
>vigorous campaigning in every party’s stronghold, for the leader selected
>by
>the Coalition. This is a very important turning point in Gambian History.
>By
>the end of this week, Yaya’s dead warrant would have been signed.
>KB
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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