The decision of the AFPRC council to retire from the Armed forces and stand
for elections, despite their earlier pronouncements that they will not
stand, took some members of the opposition by surprise. When the election
campaigns began in earnest PDOIS, the oldest of the eligible parties,
campaigned on a platform of enlightening the electorate so that they made
informed choices. Even though PDOIS had clear-cut policies concerning how
they planned to lead if elected, their campaign style did not yield much
dividend. The PDOIS rallies were neither accompanied by drums and singing
nor did they kill livestock to provide meals for those who attended their
rallies. Without sufficient resources to enable them field in candidates in
all the constituencies coupled with their campaign style, few expected them
to do very well. The NRP, one of the newly registered parties, ran a very
humorous campaign that attracted quite a few followers. Because they also
lacked sufficient resources few expected them to do as well as they did. The
UDP, another of the new parties, attracted more followers than the other
parties. It seemed to have quiet a reasonable amount of resources but
nowhere near that of the incumbent AFPRC now turned APRC. The similarity of
the two acronyms meant that all the credibility associated with the AFPRC
was credited to the APRC. It portrayed itself as a party that came to save
the state from the rampant corruption and misrule of the former regime and
to develop the country. They had abundant resources to run their campaigns.

While the APRC ran its campaign mainly based on their manifesto, the UDP
seemed to run its campaign based mainly on attacking the AFPRC record and
particularly on certain aspects of the newly approved constitution which
they campaigned against prior to it being promulgated. They attacked the
APRC as a corrupt party whose main motivation for overthrowing the
legitimate government of Sir Dawda was greed. They accused them of being a
military junta disguised as a civilian party. They trumpeted the Ebou Jallow
saga and saying very little of what they had in mind for the country once
they win. The APRC accused them of being the same devilish and corrupt PPP
party that wanted to reverse all the good things that the AFPRC had done.
They were also accused of campaigning along tribal lines.

In my opinion, one of the major mistakes of the UDP was their failure to put
more emphasis on what plans they had for the country if elected rather than
concentrating too much energy in responding to some of the APRC accusations.
Because of this they were soon to be labelled as a party of disgruntled
people who had nothing to offer the country. As the campaigns continued
clashes soon began between their militants and those of the APRC, with the
UDP militants often coming out of such clashes worse off. Their militants
were routinely rounded up, making them even more determined to react with
added militancy. Some of these militants were allegedly tortured each time
they were arrested.

The interesting thing about these arrests was that, rather than addressing
these with the electorate, they seemed to be playing to the international
community. Thus most people on the ground blamed them for their ordeals
rather than seeing them as victims. Few paid much attention to their
complaints of illegal arrests and tortures and hence attracted very little
sympathy. Their campaigns began to be associated with angry rhetoric and
violence. This gave the police sufficient reason to sometimes deny them
permits.

Whilst the other parties used their allotted slots to address the nation
using the public media the UDP used it to attack the government. It could be
recalled that they were also on record condemning the APRC for investing in
white elephant projects. The government soon refused them access to the
public media in violation of the electoral. The government’s explanation was
that while the other parties (NRP and PDOIS) used their allotted slots to
sell their programmes, the UDP was engaged in insults and incitement.
Meanwhile the APRC effectively used its more than fair share of access to
the public media to showcase their achievements as well as what the
electorate can expect from them when elected into office.

The UDP continued what was generally perceived as negative campaigning that
somehow backfired. Some moderates who initially saw the election of Lawyer
Ousainou Darbo as a positive development and his party as a credible one
that can be trusted to lead us, began shift their allegiance to other
parties, mainly PDOIS and APRC. Clashes between their militants and those of
the APRC, particularly the defunct July 22nd Movement increased and more
arrests, detentions and tortures were alleged.

The failure of the UDP, after the presidential elections, to accept their
defeat in good faith or challenge the results lost them some degree of
credibility. After the elections they also failed to take full stock of what
went wrong during the election campaign period. In my opinion, as the main
opposition party in the country, the UDP should have by now had a clear-cut
agenda on a number issues such as a coalition of opposition parties or its
campaign strategy. They have had months if not years to consider it and
formulate an appropriate strategy for it. Instead they seem to be constantly
looking for something to condemn the APRC for. The recent gaffe by the UDP
propaganda secretary by accusing women gender activists as opportunists who
wanted to get into political office through the backdoor by being nominated
does not help their cause. Other issues that the UDP has so far not handled
in their proper perspectives are the development projects of the AFPRC/APRC.
It would have made more sense to steer clear of these or suggest better ways
that they could have been done rather than condemning them as white elephant
projects. It seems to me and many others, that the UDP’s main campaign
strategy has been too much focussed on what the APRC is doing wrong rather
than what they would have done different. How do you expect the electorate
in Chamoi, who have just benefited from a concrete bridge after many years
of neglect by the previous government, to take anyone seriously if that
person makes a blanked condemnation of all the APRC development projects as
a waste of resources? How do you convince the electorate in Barra/Essau that
this government is not fit to lead when they’ve just benefited from a new
market, car park, a new ferry with the promise that another is on its way,
and a school? To say that it does not make sense to bring in Cuban Doctors
to the country especially posting them in the provinces because they cannot
understand any of our local languages simply does not make sense to the
likes of me. It is said that for one to be credible, one must be prepared to
criticise when necessary and to give credit when and where it is due. Hence
many people are persuaded by the APRC accusation that the UDP is a party of
disgruntled people who have nothing to offer the country except a return to
the old ways. Another issue of concern to many is that because president
Jammeh threatens to send anyone who wants to compromise the peace and
stability of the country “six feet deep” was followed by the UDP leader
telling its supporters to prepare for widowhood, orphanages and places in
Mile 2 central prisons. This, he is said to have told his supporters at a
rally recently held in Banjul.

I’ll conclude by saying that whether the goats will go with the goats,
“Cherreh” or “Dahinne” is anyone’s guess. One thing I do know is that we
cannot contemplate any form of instability or conflict within the country.
The result will be very devastating for the whole country. At present we are
harbouring tens of thousands of refugees who have had first hand experience
of the consequence of chaos and conflict who, we nothing to loose, could
very much take advantage of any conflict in the country. When we burn
schools, loot shops or kill each other we will just be destroying our
country and each other. Remember, you don’t play a “Zero sum game” with your
friend or family member for what you gain is what he/she looses and vice
versa.

Have a good day, Gassa.



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