Malanding,
The questions you raised are indeed quite legitimate. There
has been a lot of discussion centered on most of the questions you raised,
and I have been privilege to be a party to those discussions. In as much as I
would not claim to speak for PDOIS, or to be a member of PDOIS, I would
bring snippets of that discussion that can partly answer some of your query.
The discussion, or if you will conversation, has been very extensive, and
covers most of the areas of your inquiry. Therefore, instead of speaking
for PDOIS, I would let their statements speak for themselves.
"Hence it has been clear to us from the very inception that we could not
take over executive power in a democratic way without a mass base. We had to
develop a strategy on how to build a mass base. We had to address the
obstacles which lay in our path. We had to identify the obstacles in order to
work out the strategy to overcome them. What then were the obstacles?
"The major obstacle was the absence of a democratic culture which enables
people to listen to divergent views and make informed choices. Only one
voice was authoritative and legitimate and that was the voice of the
executive. All criticism of the state was seen as an act of subversion against
constituted authority. Supporters of the ruling party were patronised while
those who were opposed to it were demonised, excluded from the mainstream of
society and subjected to intimidation just to convince others that being in
the opposition could only yield trouble, marginalization and misery. Our
principal task was to create an alternative voice which would be considered
authoritative and legitimate despite the fact that it is not that of the
government.
"This was our first strategy. We had to employ two tactics to attain our
strategic objectives. First and foremost, we started to transform our
rallies into civic education programmes in order to educate the average Gambian
to know his or her sovereign right as tax payer and as a sovereign citizen
of the country who should determine who governs the country and how. This
earned PDOIS respectability and legitimacy as the population contended that
we were preachers and not politicians. Despite the votes of the other
parties PDOIS’ rallies and symposia became the most authoritative source of
facts and figures regarding developments in the country which were put in
cassettes and disseminated without incurring legal problems. This gave
credibility to the alternative voice.
"Secondly, we decided to establish a newspaper which would give an
alternative view on developments in the country. This newspaper became a source of
credible information which is relied on as a source information even by
members of the executive. Hence between 1987 and 1994 when the coup occurred
PDOIS had become institutionalised as a credible force which should be
listened to and taken seriously.
"The second task PDOIS had to address was the question of expanding its
mass base.We discovered that the mass base of the ruling party may have
reflected a popular will at the beginning but at the time of PDOIS’ birth the
support was based on patronage. The Commissioners, Chiefs, Village heads, and
all those in position of authority in government or private sector had the
primary aim of sustaining the Government in power. The masses were
generally controlled by their social groups and the heads of those groups were
mobilised by the ruling party to build its own political base. Our review of
the system of patronage also revealed that the existing opposition parties
were just mimicking the system of patronage of the ruling party. They would
look at all the government and private structures and then promise the
rivals of those who occupy different positions that they would replace the
substantive holder of any office once change comes about. These promises often
motivate those who aspire to be ministers, heads of departments and
para-statals, ambassadors, commissioners, chiefs and Village heads to utilise
their energy, time, resources and connections to campaign for the opposition
party. This created a two party system based on patronage.
"When PDOIS appeared on the political scene it had the option of
establishing its own mass movement based on patronage or establish an entirely
different system of mobilisation and organisation of the masses.
"It became clear to us that we could never rely on the politics of
patronage to establish the type of mass base necessary to effect change. We had to
build links directly with the masses that do not benefit from the politics
or patronage but are just used as tools by political middle persons who
batter the support of the masses, whom they mobilise as opinion leaders, for
privileges from political patrons.
"PDOIS could not make any head way unless it could succeed in enlightening
the people to liberate themselves from their opinion leaders and support
those who intend to address their needs and aspirations. This required for
PDOIS to have roots in each community. This could not be possible until we
had branches in each community. The branches could not be established until
we had members in each community who are capable of earning the respect and
trust of the people. The primary task of the party as of the 1992 elections
was to build its branches all over the country. We started a country wide
tour in 1993 which should have been completed in 1994.The tour was linked
to the mobilization of PDOIS supporters throughout the country so that they
would serve as the building blocks of the branches of the party..."
Malanding, as you can see from the dilation in the above quoted
statements, PDOIS was quite conversant since from the beginning of the obstacles
they face and the challenges they have to overcome. Contrary to what many may
believe, PDOIS is very open to challenge and parts of the discussions I
have forwarded here were the results of a serious and intensive query to some
of PDOIS's methods and tactics. As the conversation progress, I will
highlight more relevant answers that is germane to all the questions you raised.
Rene
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