Omar,

Thanks for your response.
It was evident from the last elections that the IEC is comprised of people
who bend the rules in favour of the AFPRC regime, and that election rigging is
how the regime won the last elections and that, along with brutality and
instilling fear in the hearts and minds of Gambians is  how they intend to stay in
power.
There is no doubt that all of us agree that the IEC needs to be overhauled
to ensure a free and fair election, but I think where we may differ is the mode
to be employed to accomplish this.
The AFPRC regime is a rogue regime no doubt, and their record is the evidence
of this. They have failed miserably in their attempt to rule and infact, they
were never competent simply because it is evident they have no idea what they
are doing. They ensure their stay in power by bending and breaking the rules.

Imagine if you will, that Edward Singateh ( Minister of Trade is it? These
positions change so often that one would think they are playing musical chairs)
demanding that Gambian small  business people reduce the prices they sell
commodities and other goods as a strategy for reversing the economic horror that
these people's incompetence has caused. Another brilliant idea I believe was to
round up money changers and steal their money and such monies of course were
going to "charity". One need not ask which charity that was.

The important point here is that this regime does not play by the rules
because if they did, we would not have problems would we?
The first time that people like Dr Abdoulaye Saine, Dr. Katim Touray  and
others advocated that a council be set up to negotiate with this regime, I stated
that this regime would never negotiate with anyone simply because they want
to stay for as long as possible and that theirs was a mission to ensure just
that. I know that people got upset with  me then also because again,  they took
my remarks as an attempt to undermine them but the evidence has been unfolding
ever since.

These people do not play by the rules, and thereore, the issue is not that we
need to reform the IEC, but how  we accomplish that under a regime that will
break all rules to ensure that nothing that will ensure free and fair
elections takes place because they know that will surely lead to the end of their
rule.

This is why in my post of yesterday, I asked the question as to whether
appealing to the Commonwealth could be a way to accomplish this because as far as
being able to implement reform of the IEC, the cooperation of the Gambia
government not to stand in the way must be part of it, and one cannot go to the wolf
to safeguard the sheep.
Even as we talk of Gambians resisting this regime, and in the face of their
miserable failure to lead the country when any decent law abiding government
would have stepped down by now, this regime is hard at work devicing ways to
repress the people even more.

The only viable way to force this regime to comply with the refom of the IEC
and other electoral related issues is to take this to the international forum
where international pressure can be brought to bear. The opposition parties in
the Gambia are the vehicle by which we can accomplish this, and their
formation of a united coalition is the first move towards this end.

As things are now in Gambia, with the AFPRC at the helm and very much aware
that with a coaliton in place and a reformed IEC that is composed of people who
will ensure that there is total transparency in the electoral process and in
any elections, it will be virtually impossible to bring about any reform of
the IEC because of inteference from the regime. The AFPRC regime rewrites any
clause in the constitution that puts any impediments to their sinister goals or
that will incriminate them in the lawlessness they have employed against the
people, so we are not talking about a group of people one can prevail upon to
do the right thing here. They shoot students who exercise their rights to
express themselves as provided by the constitution, and incerate  and cook up
charges against politicians who ask the people to exercise their right to protest.

These are issues the violations of which can be taken to the international
forum, and the modality of this is what needs to be looked into because i am
sure there must be a provision to accomplish such a thing. As part of the
International commuinty who are expected to abide by the rules that ensure our
standing in that arena, we must be able to prevail upon the same forum to ensure
that the Gambian people are allowed to exercise the most basic of rights under
any government that is only recognized by the international community because
they represent themselves as our lawful representatives. If they are breaking
the law in that respect, that has to allow for consequences.

The first time I suspected that Jammeh was poised to rig the last elections
was when the regime suddenly decided that all Gambians have to have an identity
card and the warped and devious proof of citizenship criteria adopted to be
able to get one was the final confirmation. In our country where births had not
always been officially documented on paper, we are a people who have lived
with each other for centuries so that it si easy to determine who is Gambian and
who is not even though this may not seem very scientific to outsiders.
However,the regime gave people a hard time with the proof of Gambian birth issue to
frustrate people and deter them from registering, and thereby making them
inelligible to vote in the elections.

In my view,  that was the first sinister purpose of this national ID card
requirement, the second being that it also opened up the possibility of providing
cards to foreigners from across the border so they can vote for the AFPRC.
Then Jammeh's agents at the IEC stepped in at the last minute to change the
rules in his favour by yet another eligibility requirement change.

In addition, there was the usual intimidation of opposition leaders, the
attempt to charge Ousainou Darboe with murder after the AFPRC thugs waylaid his
campaign party and tried to kill them on their way to a rally upriver. The
attempt to charge Waa Juwara with sedition or whatever they have concocted because
he called for Gambians to protest the diplorable conditions that this regime
has brought to bear on them is an initial step in the AFPRC's determination to
embark upon another round of setting the stage to steal another election by
intimidation and brute force.

As word spread that there is an advocation for a coalition of opposition
parties, Jammeh is preparing to wage war both on the oppositions parties and the
Gambian public, as well as the Gambians in the diaspora and the sign of that is
the allegation that Gambians from abroad are being detained and questioned
when try to enter the country, and the rumour that Jammeh was securing crowd
control equipment on his last visit to Taiwan is another indication. If this
allegation is indeed true, Taiwan as a responsible member of the International
community has the responsibility to study the political situation of any country
that they supply with such equipment before they do so, and therefore, if such
equipment is supplied and used to illegally harm the people during the course
of their lawful exercise of their constitutional rights, then the
responsibility for that lies squarely in the hands of the Taiwanese government and the
case can be made to the international community.

There was also the accusation that some people in the Gambian embassy in
Washington D.C were reporting Gambians to INS in hopes of getting them deported.
These are all intimidation tactics, and all of them were triggered by this talk
of an opposition coalition and the July 4th summit in Atlanta.

Yes, Waa Juwara is right that reforming the electoral process and the IEC is
the first order of business, but if one does not utilize the proper avenues
for doing that, and instead assume that the AFPRC regime will cooperate in such
a reform, they are gravely mistaken. It is time for the  opposition parties to
explore what options and entitlements international law accords them as
legally recognized political organization in a country that is part of regulatory
bodies such as the Commonwealth of Nations, The United Nations, ECOWAS, and any
other international organization to which Gambia is a registered member and
therefore subject to it's rules and regulations, and to embark on an organized
approach to appeal to these bodies to bring pressure to bear on the regime in
Gambia to play by the rules or risk being subject to sanctions or being forced
to resign.

I think all of this must begin with the opposition sitting down to iron out
any differences and form a united body the ultimate purpose of which is to
remove the AFPRC regime without which these political parties and the Gambian
people will remain in the same cycle of efforts going to waste simply because of
lack of cooperation and organization. If the opposition parties and Gambians in
general do not see this as imperative, then one has to begin to question
their motives, and to wonder why their vision is so narrow that they think that
personal and faction group agendas and interest will ever result in the
achievement of any goals they may have if things continue along the same vane.

Without the will to cooperate at this critical juncture, the atmosphere that
will ensure a future where political parties are able to compete fairly for
votes will never be realized, and we are left to wonder if our politicians have
bought into the notion that political office is only to be gained by cunning
manipulation perhaps, as opposed to a level playing field and so they are not
willing to do what it takes to invest in the creation of a level playing field
where a politcal party has to stand on their own merits alone to be elected by
the people.

I believe that this lack of a common vision where and when it is needed is
the reason that our societies are the perfect venue for dictatorships to not
only sprout but to survive. People are simply too busy focussing on factional and
self interest until someone with a dictatorial personality recognizes this,
siezes the opportunity and springs up amongst us because they know that they
can always depend on the people being too pre-occupied with factionalism and
self interest to ever come to a concensus to take the necessary steps to organize
ourselves for the common good of all.
Jabou Joh

In a message dated 10/18/03 1:14:57 AM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Folks,
> I apologise for coming back to the debate so late, and I hope you will
> appreciate my position when I say that I was simply held up by school work.
> All the same , both sister Jabou and Sanusi have raised  points which I
> intend to address here. But before coming onto that, I wish to say something
> in connection with another angle to the debate going on, in which Musa Jeng
> (mose) insist he has(or would have) questions about Waa's politics.
> Musa, like anyone of us has every right to raise questions pertaining to any
> politician's politics. Suffice it to say that on this occasion he has not
> raised any specific questions about Mr Juwara's politics. If he means to say
> that he will continue to distrust Waa's politics, and he has the decency to
> say so in public, then one would expect him to have a good enough reason for
> such a position. A reason that he can publicly discuss without losing face.
> However, Musa has written of Mr Juwara forming NDAM as if it is his personal
> property. This is very wrong. NDAM infact was formed by a collection of
> individuals in the Gambia and the diaspora. Thus it is again wrong to say
> that it was formed by any one individual.
> With regard sister Jabou's question pertaining to what to do in view of the
> Jammeh regime's flagrant violations of the constitution and other laws of
> the Gambia, the answer is as simple as this: let the masses defend the law.
> For example, in the run up to 2006, through the coalition, the individual
> political organisations and all civil society organisations, let us all
> advocate for free and fair democratic elections. Then all of us should adopt
> zero tolerance for electoral fraud, and be prepared to defend the will of
> the people at all costs. I am convinced that the top brass of the APRC of
> the AFPRC, does not believe in democracy. They would do anything that would
> perpetuate their stay in power. They believe in terror and aggression, and
> they would brutalize and murder us if that is what would brake our
> resilience so that they can walk over us. Softly-softly politics will never
> bring this regime down, it simply gives them the opportunity to spread their
> nefarious tentacles in our society and strenthen their stranglehold on the
> Gambia.
> As for the reconstitution of the IEC which mr Juwara advocated for, it
> envisages the inclusion of representatives of political organisations to the
> membership of the IEC. The reality at the moment is that the IEC has a
> chairperson who is known to be a defactor member of the APRC/AFPRC. His
> neutrality in the execution of his duties has never been trusted, therefore
> it would only be fair if the other political organisations in the country
> are represented  in the IEC. This could also represent opening up the IEC
> thereby effecting transparency.
> It should be noted, in conclusion, that the urgency of the need for the
> coalition to set up a machinery on the ground now cannot be exaggerated. I
> agree with sister Jabou that we need an organisation like a coalition to
> coordinate our struggle against injustice in the Gambia. This would improve
> our chances for success in our drive for free and fair democratic elections.
> The task at hand is a very difficult one. After having so many skeletons in
> its  cupboard, it should be expected that the APRC of AFPRC  will make
> dogged efforts to clink onto power even if faced with an overwhelming
> challenge. But we should all take heart because this is a struggle between
> right and wrong; the good and evil; a struggle to supplant a barbarous,
> brutal, criminal and incompetent political leadership with a just and
> efficient one.But the bottomline is, we must back our words with action. We
> must not only make it obvious to the Jammeh regime that we are fed up with
> its acts of injustice, but we should make it cristal clear to them that a
> subversion of the will of the people will not be tolerated again.
> Omar Joof.
>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~