Hamadi, it is true that you speculated that the ‘repeal’ of Decree 89 could
hamper an Opposition Alliance. But when you made that speculation, you
thought Jawara and PPP were going to spoil the Alliance. Clearly that did
NOT happen. Let us call a spade a spade and tell PDOIS what needs to be told
to them. It is NOT PPP that boycotted the Meeting or went in there and
insist that their candidate should be president. Genuine Opposition members
worked hard to ensure that PPP did NOT take these types of positions at this
juncture in our history. Did you engage your Party proactively to try and
get them to take a pragmatic position in these negotiations? Instead, all
you do is theorize and ask questions loaded with innuendo trying to paint
the other Opposition Parties in a bad light.

Like Musa Jeng said yesterday, the fact that Decree 89 politicians still
belong to their former Parties takes nothing away from forming a Coalition.
PDOIS is a Party by itself. Did I hear you telling them to dissolve their
Party and join an Alliance? PPP, NCP and GPP can all register their Parties
and THEN join the Coalition. I would have thought that this would be a
no-brainer for a person of your wherewithal. Don’t try to look for a split
in a place where there is no split. To conclude also that because we have
numerous parties “the Gambian electorate is bound to be split along ethnic,
family, and interest lines as each party tries to win the hearts of the
voters”, is cynically bringing forward divisions that we do NOT need at this
time. What are you insinuating here? Which Party is going to campaign on
ethnic/family lines?

How can you honestly break down the Meeting as a UDP/PPP Meeting? Is Assan
Musa Camara (the person that chaired the Meeting) a PPP/UDP member? Did you
bother to ask Adama Bah or Ebrima Sillah to check with Hamat Bah where he
(Hamat Bah) stands on a Coalition? The fact that this Meeting was postponed
from Thursday to Monday now means nothing to you people. Honest participants
in the Coalition know why the Meeting was postponed. If this was a UDP/PPP
affair, why did the leaders have to postpone in order to wait for Hamat Bah?
If this was a UDP/PPP thing, this Meeting would have taken place at OJ’s or
Ousainou Darboe’s.

I am surprised that you Hamadi are wondering why there was no Coalition
Meeting before the ‘repeal’ of Decree 89. In your ‘question’ you insinuate
that this whole Meeting thing and resultant Coalition was concocted with the
advent of PPP. Are you serious? Where were you when the Opposition leaders
came to America? This is in fact the best time to form a Coalition. Had we
had one before the ‘repeal’, we might have to make some changes again. PDOIS
was NEVER side-lined in this thing. They received the same Assan Musa Camara
letter (proposal) all the other Opposition Parties received. PDOIS was also
invited to the Meeting the same way the other Parties were invited. Now,
tell me that it is right for them to boycott the Meeting because they did
NOT receive a formal letter from Camara inviting them.

You people should get over this PPP hatred and move on. You did not have to
mention here that PPP led us to our present predicament. Jawara is NOT
running. PPP is NOT leading the Coalition. Darboe is the man. We are looking
FORWARD. No one is using PDOIS as a scapegoat here. It is their prerogative
to refuse to join our Alliance. Having said that, if PDOIS operatives like
Adama Bah or that Jamba Jobe come here to attack the Alliance, we will have
to defend ourselves. Like I said before, if I were you (PDOIS supporters)
you will be engaging your leaders to join the Coalition and NOT try to pit
PDOIS against the other Opposition Parties by accusing UDP, PPP, and Assan
Musa Camara of dishonorable behavior. There is still room for people to
rethink their positions and join the Coalition.

To PDOIS sympathizers like Mboge, I would respectfully urge you to ignore
characters like Basiru Ndow. They add nothing to the discourse but silly
comments that say nothing about the crux of the matter: AN OPPOSITION
ALLIANCE.
KB



>From: Hamadi Banna <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Breaking News:A Split In The Opposition?(Latest Development)
>Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 13:21:06 -0500
>
>I had speculated here about 3 weeks ago that the death of Decree 89 could
>lead to a splintering of the Opposition.  I had further asked if the First
>Republic parties would maintain their structures or join the existing
>opposition parties.  With the plethora of parties, I had also said that the
>Gambian electorate is bound to be split along ethnic, family, and interest
>lines as each party tries to win the hearts of the voters.  The schism is
>already apparent if we are to go by reports on the UDP/PPP meeting posted
>to
>the List by Adama Bah and Ebrima Sillah.
>
>I wonder why the NRP, PDOIS, and the UDP could not hold such a meeting
>prior
>to the repealing of Decree 89. Why would it take the resurgence of the PPP
>to convene an Opposition meeting from which PDOIS was allegedly sidelined?
>Why did Bureh Jawo, Musa Ngaado or any other NRP official not attend the
>said meeting?  If the PPP shares the ideals of the UDP why the need to
>re-register the party that has led us to the situation that we’re in today
>and not join the existing UDP structures?  What is the reason behind
>Sheriff
>Dibba’s walk-out from yesterday’s discussions? Finally, since most former
>NCP members and officials are currently registered with the UDP what’s the
>wisdom behind Sheriff’s decision to revive his party?
>
>It is becoming clear that the Opposition has a lot of work to do in order
>to
>improve their mutual respect and trust even in the absence of a coalition.
>It is also apparent that PDOIS is being unfairly used as the whipping boy
>of
>the Opposition whenever the party differs in opinion.  One does not have to
>be a PDOIS supporter to note that this party has single-handedly been
>fighting against the very issues for which the APRC and PPP governments
>have
>been criticized.
>
>The ideal would have been to have a coalition either in the first or second
>(if there’ll be any) round of voting after serious consultations between
>all
>parties on the modalities of such a coalition.  We might get caught in the
>obsession of removing Yahya Jammeh only to realize that we have replaced
>him
>with his alter ego. What will happen if the APRC loses the presidential,
>but
>retains a majority in the National Assembly?
>
>What Gambians should fight for is the end of ignorance and poverty and all
>the accompanying ills.  We cannot continue to have leaders that sell us
>nothing but big talk and falsehood, who are just interested in becoming
>rulers to fill their pockets.
>
>As Amilcar Cabral, the Bissau-Guinean freedom fighter, once put it:
>
>“Always remember that the people are not fighting for ideas, nor for what’s
>in men’s minds.  The people fight and accept the sacrifices demanded by the
>struggle in order to gain material advantages, to live better and in peace,
>to benefit from progress, and for the better future of their children.”
>
>Hamadi.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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