Hello, not that what I say or think means anything, seeing as how I'll probably never vote in a Gambian election, but I've got a lot of questions about this NADD thing.  And I just couldn't resist asking.  Though, maybe "resist" isn't the right word.  


     Firstly, what is going on exactly.  If Darbo / UDP has resigned, why hasn't any official statement been released?  What is taking so long?  At least, if UDP has resigned, I, and I'd guess the rest of us as well, would like to know why and get some sort of an explanation.  All of this speculating, though, doesn't seem to be helping too much.

     If UDP has indeed resigned, why?  Is it possible that they had valid reasons for resigning?  If they didn't like the way the process of selecting a flag-bearer was going, why?  If Omar Jallow was duly selected, then why wasn't UDP happy with that?  If Omar Jallow wasn't duly selected, if he was "selected" illegitimately, why and how?

     This is just starting to feel like a power grab to me, and sad to say, but the opposition is starting to look a lot like Jammeh, right down to the assertion by some NADD supporters that "if you support X party, then you're not for Gambia and Gambians" stuff.  What is that all about?  So does this mean that if Gambians support UDP in their decision to resign from NADD, this means they are not true Gambians, and they don't love The Gambia, and that they are putting their own selfish interests ahead of The Gambia?  So does democracy and freedom of speech, opinion, political association, and expression only apply if you're supporting NADD?  I think it's really dangerous and to me, makes one wonder about the real goals of at least some of the opposition, when they start saying things like, "if you support a certain party, just because * we * don't like that certain party, then you're not for Gambia and Gambians".

     I mean, doesn't Jammeh demonstrate this all the time?  In how he regularly harasses the opposition, and has even accused the opposition of endangering state security.  And I'm referring to the story about Jammeh alleging that the opposition was somehow in cahoots with the Senegalese government to overthrow him.  Or did I dream that up somewhere?

     What I'm saying is, it seems to me that the APRC has a mentality where supporting them means supporting and loving The Gambia.  What is dangerous is if certain elements of the opposition, whoever they are, start taking up that same mantra.

     I also don't like this element of tribalism being thrown around here.  I'm beginning to wonder if those throwing around that label are either tribalist themselves, or just want to shut the other person up, and make their comments irrelevant.  It's much like how people here in America will call you racist if they don't agree with you, in order to stifle your opinion, and make it so no one will listen to you or give your ideas any chance, because you've been labelled a racist.

     What I'm getting is, there are some who think that if you support UDP, then you are a tribalist, and you don't care about the Gambia, and you only care about your own, or your "tribe's" interests, and you're no better than Jammeh.  And from where I sit, this seems very unfair.

     I'm just starting to really wonder how much different the opposition is from Jammeh, because in a lot of ways, they really don't seem that much different, but I could be wrong.

     Also, if "the UDP is going to have to meet Gambians or deal with Gambians" etc., how is this?  If "the overwhelming number of Gambians support NADD", where are the statistics to back this up?  And I'm not sure you could use the by-elections as an example, as the by-elections had UDP candidates running under the NADD banner.

     Also, if NRP and Hamat Bah also leave NADD and form an alliance with Darbo and UDP, as I've seen speculated here, where does that leave the rest of the members of NADD?  

     If I'm not mistaken, before the formation of NADD, weren't UDP and NRP the two biggest parties in The Gambia, excluding the APRC?  If this is the case, and NRP and UDP form their own alliance, what about the other three or so parties of NADD?  Can they, the smaller parties, be able to pull enough votes to defeat both the NRP / UDP alliance and APRC and win the 2006 Presidential election?

     I just don't feel like I have enough information to think one way or another about why NADD has failed, if it indeed has failed.  And I've seen some people talk about how if NADD were strong enough, then Pa Nderry's articles would not have harmed them, and while maybe that may have been true, I just wonder how strong NADD actually was.  And even though we would have wished otherwise, Pa Nderry's irresponsible "reporting" had done damage to NADD, especially when it comes to pitting people and groups against each other.

     The thing is, I just don't know.  And to be honest, I won't entirely trust anything unless it comes from an official source.  We've all seen the disastrous consequences of jumping on a supposed piece of news, only to find out later that it was deliberately fabricated.  

     So anyway, those are my questions / thoughts, for whatever they are worth.  Whoever you want to blame for NADD's problems, the whole thing is extremely sad and disheartening, no matter how you slice it.  And I guess it makes some people feel better to pick a scapegoat and blame them for all the problems, just because they are angry or just don't like the guy or whatever.

     I'd love to think that the opposition, in one form or another, will be able to oust Jammeh in 2006, but my hopes are increasingly fading on that.  You have a guy, Jammeh, who has all the state resources at his disposal, he has the mechanisms to either bribe people or intimidate them into voting for him, and you have an opposition who can't seem to put their differences behind them long enough to pick a flag-bearer, present a truly unified front, and start campaigning for the 2006 elections.  And what's worse, you seem to also have people behind the scenes trying to manipulate the process, so the outcome will be one that they desire.  

     And then online, the tribal label is getting thrown around, you have people insinuating that if you don't support this or that group, then you are not for The Gambia, etc., and I find these sorts of things to be truly sad and a bit scary.  

     So let's just say the APRC is defeated in 2006, if NADD wins are they going to ban the UDP, for Darbo's act of dissing them in early 2006, when he left the coalition?  Or, if UDP wins, are they going to ban NADD?  How do we know that if any of the opposition wins, that they are not going to turn out to be just as bad as Jammeh?  How can we really trust that the people we, or I should say, Gambians are supporting, are not going to be just as bad as Jammeh?

     These are just some questions, and I'm going to stop now, before I bore everyone to tears, that is if you've even gotten this far.  I am continuing to feel a sense of sadness and frustration, which started when the NADD members were detained by Jammeh.  At least I can say one thing for Jammeh, at least we know where the guy stands.  Where does the opposition stand?

     Sure they talk a good game, but so did Jammeh at one time.  And sense we've never seen these guys in any positions of power, we have no way of knowing what they are going to do, we only have their word.  And how much is that?  And if I'm wrong about this, I stand corrected in advance.

     OK, guess I'm going to go now, and school myself on the Patriot Act, and maybe I can at least work to get that horrendous piece of law, uh, "outlawed", as it were.  At this point, I'm once again, as I have numerous times before, seriously considering bowing out of this whole Gambian politics thing, and am thinking about what some have suggest I do all along, and that is, "stick to your own politics".  

     Because what am I supposed to do?  Short of physically talking to these people (and what good would that do?  I'm nothing to these people), there is nothing I can do.  I don't know quite who or what to support or how to support them.  All I want is to see a better Gambia for its people.  That is it.

     But I really don't like the occasional, naggin feeling that I get, which suggests to me that I have no business speaking about or getting involved in Gambian politics.  The thing that keeps bringing me back, though, time and time again, is the knowledge that there is a so-called President come Dictator, occupying State House in The Gambia, and he is destroying The Gambia, and it is that fact that I can't turn away from.  However, if I can't actively change the situation, if speaking out against it is going to cause me to look like, or have people see me as, just a do-gooder who has no idea what she is talking about, then the only option left to me is dua.  That's right, Dua!  And yeah, I know some might say, "Oh, relying on God / Allah isn't going to do anything".  But I believe dua can be a very powerful thing, and seems to be the only option left to me as an "outsider", which I truly am.  I mean, who am I kidding?  I'm about as "outsider-ish" as you can get.  I'm just a white American from Indiana, now living in Tennessee, who just happened to visit The Gambia, at one point in my life.  So what right does that give me to say anything?  Oh, yeah, everyone on here can sit here and talk about "freedom of speech" and "democracy", and talk of how everyone is free to speak your mind.  But as soon as someone says something one doesn't like, or supports a group that someone doesn't like, oh watch the claws come out!  But I guess freedom of speech, while it means that anyone can freely speak their mind, it also means that people can accuse others of tribalism, or accuse people of bowing to their own self-interest, and "not loving The Gambia", etc. 

     And OK, I'm really going this time.  I'm tired, and I've had a long week, and I think at some point I'm going to scan the Gambia Post / Gambia-l archives and reread some past posts and read some posts I've not had a chance to read, because maybe the answers to some of my questions are contained in those posts.  It's just really sad that some people have seemed to have lost sight of the ultimate goal of ridding the Gambia of Jammeh, and all they seem to care about is their own interest or whatever.  

     OK, I'm gone now...  Take care all.  I've rambled enough.

Ginny


¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤