Jabou:

I am not tring to put words in your mouth.  You said and I quote:

[QUOTE]Jawara's regime may not have been as bloody as the present one, but
does this mean we have to go back to it when we can aspire to a better one,
and all we
have to do is to cooperate in that effort instead of playing games in the
process.[&QUOTE]

The above statement, in my opinion, implies that there are better parties
than the PPP which can move The Gambia forward.  In fact, I tend to agree
with you in this regard, but I am a bit baffled as to why you claim not to
have made the above statement when you say:

[QUOTE]Now when and where did i say that PDOIS or any other party was a better
> party? I did say that the peoposal put forth by Halifa Sallah was the way
> forward, and it is a sound and inclusive one indeed. Please read what i have
> written again[&QUOTE]

You also write:
[QUOTE]The points I made were that this alliance should have made every
effort to
> include everyone, and i never said it should not have included the PPP. What
> i said and will repeat is that the PPP is using this occasion to get back
> into politics, when what they should have done is merely be helpers of this
> process, and the way that the UDP went off to form an allinace with the PPP
> leaving all other parties out does not suggest that the PPP is in this
> alliance merely to be elder statesmen who are extening a helping hand to the
> other parties to unseat Jammeh. They owe it   to the Gambian people infact
> to play no more than the role of helpers instead of dividers, and if this
was
> the role they were really playing, then they would have adviced the UDP to
> make every effort to bring the others to this meeting no matter what
> obstacles were presented by whom[&QUOTE]

Jabou, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the PPP would
get back into politics.  The last time I checked, the legitimate government
of our country at the time, the PPP, was violently usurped from power by a
rag tag motley crew of undisciplined GNA soldiers.  This event coupled with
Decree 89 is what effectively ended the PPP's participation in Gambian
politics until now.  It should thus not have been shocking to anyone when,
after Decree 89, the PPP returned to active politics.  There was no rule
which stated that the PPP should not return to active politics.  Thus your
argument that the PPP is using this occasion to get back into politics does
not hold, for Alliance or NOT they still would have returned to active
politics.
Furthermore, regarding your point about PPP serving the role of
elderstatesmen in the Alliance process and nothing else, this is an Alliance
and every party therein should be part and parcel of the process, and not
only serve as an 'elder participant' as you coined it.  I would also like to
remind you that this a UDP led coalition and not a PPP led one.  This should
tell you where the real power lies...

Still on this topic, there is no evidence to substantiate your spurious
remarks that the PPP orchestrated the move to shut out other political
parties.  As it stands, there is no firm evidence to support your claims that
the PPP did not act as helpers and instead acted 'dividers.'  In this light,
we owe it to the Alliance to make well informed and reasoned comments as
opposed to throwing mud at the Alliance participants when all the facts are
not clear yet.  This is what will serve to divide the Opposition in their
quest to sort out the modalities towards forming a more widespread Alliance.
I hope that this quest eventually materializes and unless there is no more
hope of an Alliance, we should withhold dishing out blame.


You also wrote:
[QUOTE]Regarding the Jawara regime, there are allegations by some Gambians
that at
> least one of them gave the order to kill after the attempted coup of 1981,
> and others say that there are mass graves, but that is not my burden to
> prove
> here. That is for a court of law. There are also people who allege turture
> a the hands of the Jawara regime after 1981, but hey, it is Africa, and
> anything goes, so long as personal agendas are fulfilled.
> is that the Jawara regime had 30
> years and not much to show for it other that corruption and nepotism. Why
> is it ok to replace one regime for another that has already shown us what
> they are made of[&QUOTE]

With regard to YOUR above comments, I and many other Gambians were there
during the 1981 abortive Coup D'etat and also during most of Jawara's reign.
Were you there?  Just in case you forgot, I shall remind you again: the human
rights situation there was second to none in the sub-region.  This, in my
opinion, is one of the fundamentals towards a genuine democracy.

 I do have a lot of respect for you.  But how can you sling mud against the
Jawara regime when you were hardly there during their period of rule?  How
can you sling mud at Opposition participants and make spurious claims that
the PPP is trying to hijack the political process when you are unable to put
forth any direct evidence to support your claims?

IMO, every Opposition party should understand that this is a primarily an
Alliance to remove a wicked regime from power.  It is a fight between good
and evil, which should mean that all people on the side of good should unite
to fight against evil regardless of political ideologies, tribe, race etc
etc.   If all members of the Opposition parties agree upon this basic
premise, then all effort should be made to facilitate this process by
focussing on what really matters; the removal of the APRC from Gambian
politics forever.  Spurious charges, unnecessary and unfounded PPP paranoia,
and divisive tactics will not help the push for an Alliance...

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