My couple of days leave turned into a week as I juggled my role as a single
mom to prepare two daughters to go back to college and two boys for a new
high school year.
I see that the debate rages on, and it seems that things are definitely
headed for the worse, as the opposition coalition that was supposed to be an
emergency temporary fix to eject a dictator and  prepare ourselves for
normalcy with the participation of all opposition parties, has been hijacked
by the PPP using the UDP as their vehicle to accomplish the devious feat. The
PPP is attempting to ride the UDP like a camel back into power.

With this quote below from Mr Halifa Sallah, and with the explanations
rendered by the Honourable S.M.Dibba, I would first of all like to render a
sincere apology both to PDOIS and to Mr S.M.Dibba for my assumptions that
these political parties were the ones standing in the way of a united
opposition.

On  August 20, 2001 Sheikh Al-Kinky Sanyang, The Independent Newspaper
Banjul, the Gambia

As the coalition of opposition parties is riddled in political turmoil, the
Peoples' Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) have
spelt out their position. Speaking to The Independent at their Bundungka
Kunda bureau on Friday Halifa Sallah said their position was that opposition
parties must create an agenda to empower the people and then form a coalition
in the first or second round of the forthcoming October presidential
elections. He said once there is an agenda to empower the people, PDOIS can
always be part of any coalition, but would never help any party to come to
power just to preside over the ignorance, poverty and subjugation of the
people. Mr. Sallah warned that a country needs a government, which is
sensitive and responsive to the needs and aspirations of her people. He also
said that an alternative government, should be sensitive and responsive, and
shadowed by a mature opposition. Explaining PDOIS' absence at the inter-party
meeting of the opposition at the YMCA, Sallah said they did not receive any
letter of invitation and heard of the meeting after it had started. He added
that during a telephone conversation with the chairman of the meeting Assan
Musa Camara of the GPP they suggested for a postponement for at least a day
or two to enable them participate. But he added that to their surprise a
press conference was held on that same day indicating that Darboe has been
selected to be the coalition's presidential candidate. 'In our view the
opposition made a big blunder and instead of having a united opposition,
factions have now developed," he charged. To convene a meeting of opposition
parties, Mr. Sallah suggested that each party should state its minimum
programme for a coalition and where there are no points for agreement to
dislodge the Jammeh administration they could still agree not to form a
coalition in the first round by expressing intention to form it in the second
round. However, the renowned sociologist claimed that the fundamental error
made by the organizers was their failure to get the ideas of all opposition
parties regarding the meeting. He said PDOIS would have told them to form an
ad-hoc committee comprising the administrative secretaries of all the
opposition parties and give them the mandate to prepare the venue, time and
agenda of the meeting. He added that a minimum guideline should have been
prepared indicating the procedures to make a decision either by majority vote
or by consensus, which would require a unanimous vote. To encourage
transparency, he said civic societies and organizations could have also been
invited to witness. "A coalition candidate selected under such circumstances
would have earned tremendous support, respect and authority," he suggested.
To still uphold the integrity of the opposition Mr. Sallah, revealed that
PDOIS have written another proposal for a coalition to all opposition parties
based on the one year transition programme, comprising civic education over
radio and TV to enlighten the people to free them intimidation or inducement.
Further more, he noted that all political parties would have access to radio
and TV with a view to putting their programmes before the electorates without
insults or promoting any sectionalist feeling. According to Mr. Sallah all
constitutional and legal provisions hindering the pursuit of rights to stand
in election or to ensure redress or grievance would be repealed. He said in
that sequence elections would have been held after the expiration of one-year
term by the president of the coalition. He clearly pointed out that if their
proposal was not accepted PDOIS would go alone or consider alliance with any
political party, which agrees with the agenda to empower the people.

This proposal by PDOIS above all else, is the only logical, sensible and well
meaning way forward.

This alliance was supposed to include all the opposition  political parties,
and the efforts to assemble such an alliance was supposed to be done in an
honourable and transparent manner, with every effort being made and care
being taken to ensure that a middle ground was reached. It was not meant to
be a vehicle of deceit, and a path for the PPP to come back int othe lives of
Gambians.

Perhaps I was wrong in assuming that with talk of an opposition alliance, all
efforts were being made to ensure that the planning included all possible
participants from the very onset, and that there were meetings conducted
between  all of these parties. One just assumes that in such a situation if
there are no hidden agendas in play.

I had also continuously asked questions regarding this coalition, starting
with Ousainou Darboe's visit to the U.S. When I spoke to him over the
telephone, the first question I asked him was what his feelings were
regarding a united opposition. His answer was " Jabou, how could we be
opposed to a united coalition."
After this, I continued to ask questions regarding this coalition, mostly
from another individual who for all intents and purposes, I consider a part
of the UDP. This individual has always given me the impression that there
were attempts being made to include all the opposition parties. He said that
PDOIS wanted to form a coalition in the second round of voting.The
conversations I had with this individual gave me the impression that there
was definitlely ongoing contact between the opposition parties in an attempt
to form this coalition.
I had also always assumed, that the proposed coalition government was to be
a short one, say one or two years as this made sense.

It was not until after I posted my criticism of PDOIS and Mr S.M Dibba to the
list, that I spoke to this source again, and was informed that the UDP
position on a coalition government was that it was to be a full term one. I
was shocked as this made it appear to me that the UDP was using the occasion
to have a full term government when this is supposed to be a temporary one.

The argument given was that if the coalition government was a short lived
one, then it would not provide enough time to do away with all the required
reforms needed for a fresh round of elections. Also, that the parties
involved in the coalition would be tied up with the business of running the
country and and preparing for any impending fresh round of elections would be
distracting.

I was not aware of PDOIS' position on the term of the colaition government of
1 year.

It was also at this time that i found out that the meeting of the opposition
alliance called by Mr Assan Musa Camara was the very first time that all the
players in this alliance would have come together. I was shocked needless to
say, because I thought these guys surely must have been speaking to each
other long before this.It was also at this time that I found out that  the
reason PDOIS did not go to the meeting was that they said they were not
properly invited.

I am at a loss for words now when it has come to light,  that PDOIS requested
that the meeting be delayed so they can attend, and this did not happen. I
think that in itself speaks volumes about the intention of the conveners of
this meeting

My answer to this individual was that it was necessary to do whatever it
took, to get PDOIS to this meeting, as well as all of the other opposition
parties. I said that if it took spreading a red carpet from their door to the
meeting, this should be done because the whole idea was to make sure that
things were done properly, and that everyone was in attendance at this
meeting.

I then commented that if all effort was done and some of the parties still
did not want to cooperate, then it made sense to just form an alliance of
those who wanted to be in an alliance, because the this would have been
hustified, and it would have been apparent that some of the parties would not
cooperate no matter wah effort was made.
I said this because I believed that there was genuine sincererity and effort
being made to include all opposition parties in this effort, and that
everything had been done in complete transparency all this while, with talks,
even though informal, including all opposition parties. I assumed that PDOIS
and S.M Dibba and others were dragging their feet despite such an effort. I
was dead wrong.

I suggested that this meeting be reconvened, and that written invitations be
sent to all , especially because it was mentioned that PDOIS said they had
received only a verbal invitation. I asked why this was, and was told that
all of the opposition parties received verbal invitations from Assan Musa
Camara.

Given that this meeting was of national and historic importance, I was very
surprised to learn that verbal as opposed to written invitations were given.
It is even more interesting that Mr S.M Dibba said in his press release that
"PDOIS said they were not properly invited" This led me to wonder if the
verbal invitation to all alike was true otherwise why would Mr Dibba repeat
this?

At any rate, the conversation i had with this person unfortunately led me to
the conclusion that the decision to have a  coalition between the UDP and PPP
to the exclusion of the other opposition parties was a done deal, and that
there was no intention of making any attempts to reconvene the meeting and to
reach a middle ground. The UDP and PPP simply saw these disagreements with
PDOIS and Mr Dibba as an excuse to forge an alliance, and infact, this was
their intention all along from what I was able to gather, and the reason I
say this is because one cannot possibly form a united opposition based on one
meeting where two of the opposition parties they say they attempted to
include were not in attendance, and one walked out due to disagrements on the
choice of the lead candidate.

Infact, how is it that the choice for a lead candidate was even being
considered at this initial time when all and sundry were not present? Here
were different political parties with differing ideologies on how to govern
meeting to form a colaition, and how anyone though that this could be just a
one time meeting  where conclusions could be drawnis also beyond belief. The
only logical conclusion would be that the UDP/PPP allinace had already been
cemented behind the scenes despite any denials.
If sincerity in the attempt to form a true united opposition was the agenda,
the players in this would realize that it may take many meetings, and any and
every attempt to make sure everyone who is a player was present, and that the
agenda of just a party or two will not be the one they will agree on, but
that everyone's ideas had to be taken into consideration and a compromise
reached. Even my 14 year old son and his friends in the neighbourhood can
tell you that elementary fact.

I also learnt that "ideas for a coalition were floated between people with
similar objectives" and that this did not include all of the opposition
parties. This fact, more than anything else, told me that perhaps the idea
had all along been to form a UDP/PPP alliance and the rest was just mere
window dressing.

The question then becomes this, is it not true that the more things change,
the more they stay the same? If these two parties are colluding to turn
something that was supposed to be honourable and inclusive into a devious
machinery to propel a certain group into power, does it then not hold true
that the same deviousness will continue once these people come into power?
This is especially so since their collaborators in this scheme, the PPP
certainly used many devious means to stay in power for 30 years and the UDP
will now have us believe that they are a fresh new party with fresh new ideas
with the PPP in tow, and in view of the way this whole coalition idea is
being handled by them ?

Either the UDP is so clueless that they have no idea they are being used by
these power hungry and corrupt party stallworts who should have been looking
for ways to atone the many sins they have earned during their 30 years of
misrule, instead of trying to orchestrate ways of returing to the same, or
the UDP has been a part of the PPP despite all their vehement denials all
this while. Or, it could be that these two groups have decided that they have
something that they share in common, and which does not include the other
political parties. Or it could just be that the  UDP is so desperate to come
into power that they will agree to such an unholy alliance just to get there.
The UDP tells us that they are a new and fresh party that deserves a chance
to show the Gambian people that they are about progress. How then does it
make any sense for them to fall into bed with the PPP who have failed the
Gambian people for 30 years, and are the very reasons that our counry is in
such a state of chaos today?

The UDP says that they are about reform and progress, and yet, they have
become the allies of those who have sent us back 35 years, and they did it by
less than honourable means.

The same chaos will reign, this time coupled with a vengence that surpasses
that which was heaped upon the Gambian people by Sir Dawda after the
attempted coup of 1981.

It was after this coup, and after the IMF recommended a freeze in government
hiring that Jawara recruited high school graduates and sent them to Sandhurst
and various other military training facilities to form an army.

Many have said that this army was to be the machinery for a police state that
Jawara was preparing to unleash upon the Gambian people because he felt that
they had abandoned him with the attempted coup of 1981.

Some also say that this was one of the reasons the Farafeni barracks were the
army post attacked by Kukoi's men because it was the post that housed the
army unit that was trained to subvert any form of rebellion.

Gambians are still dispersed around the subregion and around the World as a
result of the retaliation and revenge that  ensued after the attempted coup
of 1981 and one can only imagine what other means of revenge a revamped PPP
will have unleash, and the Gambian people will be the loosers.

Make no mistake, Yaya Jammeh and his ill gotten government are rogues and
murderers, and should not get away with it, but the PPP is harly the
machinery to bring justice to the Gambian people.

One can only wonder at what state of mind the UDP was in when they decided to
join the PPP. What will the UDP do, join the PPP in hurling out revenge once
in power? Is this the progress they have in store for us?

What about all the grievances that people have against the PPP? Will the
UDP/PPP government tolerate an attempt by those wronged by the PPP to have
their day in court, or will they engage in covering up these allegations
while they tell us that they are a fresh new party that is prepared to bring
progressive reforms.

Progressive reforms cannot happen when blatant wrongs have not been righted,
and those who have committed crimes against the people properly prosecuted
according to laws that are not  subverted by special interest. There is
nothing new and fresh in that.

You see, after hearing the stories of these two parties, after conducting my
own research and asking yet more questions, and with the way the effort to
form a united coalition has unfolded, I have come to the conclusion that yes,
brother Halifa Sallah was indeed right that after doing my homework, I would
owe both of these parties an apology.

For all intents and purposes, what has happened here is that the PPP has at
last found a way to ride back onto the political scene in The Gambia, and
they are going to do it on the back of the UDP.This is the bottom line, and
no long winded oratory to explain away the unexplanable will change that.
It is a dissappointing and very sad day for our country because it is very
apparent that special interes and greed for power is still the order of the
day.
My only concousion is that PDOIS and the other opposition parties that have
been fanangled out of this so-called opposition allinace form their own
alliance which will be focused on truely serving the interest of the people
because the UPD/PPP alliance is everything but that.

Jabou Joh
Nashville, Tennessee.

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