"The role of the opposition is to speak for the voiceless and those
oppressed by the system, he stated. "Dictatorship can only succeed when the
righteous refuse to speak out and democracy is manifested when leaders are
afraid of the people they lead". OJ, you can say that again. The worst
thing Gambians can do for themselves is to be afraid of this dictatorship.
OJ, I'm with you on your call for the people's right to the streets any day.
Please read on.
OJ Demands Politician's Release
The Independent (Banjul)
October 10, 2003
Posted to the web October 13, 2003
S.b Camara
Banjul
Omar Jallow, the interim leader of the PPP has turned up the heat on the
government for the continuous detention of NDAM top gun, Lamin Waa Juwara,
describing it as utterly illegal and unconstitutional.
"This is an assault on the Gambian democratization process and our
constitution, which the Executive has vowed to uphold, defend and
protect,but which has been unashamedly violated on countless occasions" he
charged.
OJ, who claimed to have been jailed seventeen times by the government of the
day for his critical stand against it, believes it is outrageous that a
government professing to be democratic and protect the rights of its
citizenry, can "reduce itself to one that abducts and kidnaps citizens who
speak their minds." Such must be condemned before it escalates
aggravatingly, he warned.
The outspoken politician asserted that in this era of democratization, "an
elected government is revisiting the dark days of 1994 when a treasonable
group of soldiers overthrew the democratically elected government of the
nation and ruled with decrees." They should know that the people's
aspirations would always triumph, he tersely cautioned.
The PPP, he went on, is calling on all opposition parties to join ranks,
speak and act in unison on such issues of despotic tendencies, total
disregard for the Constitution, violations of people's rights with impunity
and other despotic tendencies, which are typical of Jammeh's administration.
"There are consultations underway between the various opposition parties to
form a common platform and fight against suppression and repression, high
handedness with arrogance that the Jammeh administration has been displaying
over the past few weeks," he hinted.
OJ bluntly pointed out that Gambian politicians should forget about their
leadership aspirations if they are afraid of being jailed or to die for
their country. "I am not afraid to die for my country, it's The Gambia first
before O.J and we owe that responsibility to the nation to live up to their
expectations," he stressed matter-of-factly.
The role of the opposition is to speak for the voiceless and those oppressed
by the system, he stated. "Dictatorship can only succeed when the righteous
refuse to speak out and democracy is manifested when leaders are afraid of
the people they lead," he asserted. Peaceful demonstrations, according to
the PPP man, are a legal requirement that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
"People reserve the right to go take to the streets anytime they see issues
that directly affect their lives," he said. Juwara's arrest and unlawful
detention will only instill a culture of fear and insecurity, suspicion and
uncertainties within our political culture, which gives birth to
instability, he warned.
"Demonstrations have always been part and parcel of the opposition's agenda
and we will take to the streets any time the situation arises," the former
agriculture minister in the first republic put across. He said the situation
has not arrived yet, though they are finding themselves in a different
situation presently. "We will take to the streets any time we are ready.
Nobody can stop us from doing that," he vowed, recalling the biggest mistake
committed by the former Apartheid regime in South Africa was to jail
Mandela.
"It kept his people more determined to achieve their liberation objectives.
You can always kill the individual, but you can never kill an idea or a
belief," he remarked.
OJ Demands Politician's Release
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
The Independent (Banjul)
October 10, 2003
Posted to the web October 13, 2003
S.b Camara
Banjul
Omar Jallow, the interim leader of the PPP has turned up the heat on the
government for the continuous detention of NDAM top gun, Lamin Waa Juwara,
describing it as utterly illegal and unconstitutional.
"This is an assault on the Gambian democratization process and our
constitution, which the Executive has vowed to uphold, defend and
protect,but which has been unashamedly violated on countless occasions" he
charged.
OJ, who claimed to have been jailed seventeen times by the government of the
day for his critical stand against it, believes it is outrageous that a
government professing to be democratic and protect the rights of its
citizenry, can "reduce itself to one that abducts and kidnaps citizens who
speak their minds." Such must be condemned before it escalates
aggravatingly, he warned.
The outspoken politician asserted that in this era of democratization, "an
elected government is revisiting the dark days of 1994 when a treasonable
group of soldiers overthrew the democratically elected government of the
nation and ruled with decrees." They should know that the people's
aspirations would always triumph, he tersely cautioned.
The PPP, he went on, is calling on all opposition parties to join ranks,
speak and act in unison on such issues of despotic tendencies, total
disregard for the Constitution, violations of people's rights with impunity
and other despotic tendencies, which are typical of Jammeh's administration.
"There are consultations underway between the various opposition parties to
form a common platform and fight against suppression and repression, high
handedness with arrogance that the Jammeh administration has been displaying
over the past few weeks," he hinted.
OJ bluntly pointed out that Gambian politicians should forget about their
leadership aspirations if they are afraid of being jailed or to die for
their country. "I am not afraid to die for my country, it's The Gambia first
before O.J and we owe that responsibility to the nation to live up to their
expectations," he stressed matter-of-factly.
The role of the opposition is to speak for the voiceless and those oppressed
by the system, he stated. "Dictatorship can only succeed when the righteous
refuse to speak out and democracy is manifested when leaders are afraid of
the people they lead," he asserted. Peaceful demonstrations, according to
the PPP man, are a legal requirement that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
"People reserve the right to go take to the streets anytime they see issues
that directly affect their lives," he said. Juwara's arrest and unlawful
detention will only instill a culture of fear and insecurity, suspicion and
uncertainties within our political culture, which gives birth to
instability, he warned.
"Demonstrations have always been part and parcel of the opposition's agenda
and we will take to the streets any time the situation arises," the former
agriculture minister in the first republic put across. He said the situation
has not arrived yet, though they are finding themselves in a different
situation presently. "We will take to the streets any time we are ready.
Nobody can stop us from doing that," he vowed, recalling the biggest mistake
committed by the former Apartheid regime in South Africa was to jail
Mandela.
"It kept his people more determined to achieve their liberation objectives.
You can always kill the individual, but you can never kill an idea or a
belief," he remarked.
_________________________________________________________________
Instant message during games with MSN Messenger 6.0. Download it now FREE!
http://msnmessenger-download.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
