GAMBIA-L Archives

The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List

GAMBIA-L@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
omar joof <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:09:19 +0000
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (276 lines)
Mr Darbo,
After the vital Supreme court decision, it is imperative that we direct our
national discourse towards finding a way forward. You have indeed started us
in that direction in a very creative way. I am convinced that the NADD
leadership while currently in deliberation, are also listening with keen
interest to what is coming in to them from their "global support". As a
result, it is my ardent wish that they take your suggestions onboard when
considering the options available for the way forward.
At this critical juncture, we should all call on the NADD leadership, and
the leaderships of its constituent partys, emphasizing to them that their
unity should be maintained at all costs; and that disintergrating into
irreconcilable factions is not an option. The present scenario requiries a
subtle strategic move not only to extricate us from the present legal
quagmire, but also to rekindle the momentum that has since been generated
for change in The Gambia.
In the recent past, a handful of us have argued that the entire electoral
process in The Gambia has already been rigged. If it is possible for Trade
Unions to form umbrella organisations, in the name of freedom of
association, I see no reason why political formations should not be abled to
do so. But it must be noted that the A(F)PRC has spread its filthy tentacles
in all aspects of the state for no other reasons, but its own political
self-perpetuation. Obviously, when a bunch of criminals find themselves in
charge of spearheading the creation of a national constitution, it is only
reasonable that they will come up with a document that would protect their
criminality. This bunch of bandits, murderers and friends of rapists have
really entrenched themselves in power. I still insist that to remove them
from power we need not only a united alternative political leadership, but
also a highly militant vanguard, that would selflessly defend the mandate of
the people.
The struggle continues!
Omar Joof.
>From: <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Re: [>-<] POLITICAL SUICIDE.......
>Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 17:51:25 +0100
>
>[ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by
><[log in to unmask]> ]
>
>
>
>
>
>NADD, the By-elections, and the 2006 General Elections
>
>
>
>In light of the adverse Supreme Court decision on the four opposition
>National Assembly seats, and considering the stated intention by the
>leadership to contest the September by-elections, it is incumbent on NADD
>to undertake a fundamental reassessment of direction if it is to even come
>close to achieving its key strategic objective of capturing the State House
>in 2006. All indications suggest the NADD high command is already so
>engaged, but supporters not privy to those consultations are legitimately
>worried about the troubling signals clearly discernible from that process.
>
>In the titanic struggle for a nation's soul, fourteen months does not
>constitute enough of a window to remove major road blocks in time to arrive
>at the aspired destination ahead of a well-resourced incumbent. NADD's
>unresolved issues centering on the Supreme Court decision are due for
>urgent solution. Otherwise, it is unclear how the September by-elections
>can be contested under a NADD, or for that matter, any other opposition
>banner, without the Alliance coming apart at the seams.
>
>As stakeholders, NADD's base of global supporters are entitled to a say on
>how the Alliance extricate itself from its evident internal impasse,
>occasioned - among other, but lesser, considerations - by the Supreme Court
>decision. It is my view that, as the intended beneficiaries, NADD is our
>enterprise. The party leaders, constituting the executive, and crucial to
>the ultimate success of the enterprise, are nevertheless mere trustees of a
>vital national project. Their duty is to the people they intend to liberate
>from the clutches of tyranny. Their duty is to us.
>
>What, it may be asked, is the nature of NADD's duty to the people of The
>Gambia? Overriding all subsidiary considerations is the absolute imperative
>for the Alliance to remain committed to the vision underlying its
>formation. I reiterate my contention that the September by-elections,
>threatening the very survival of NADD - even as they remain insignificant
>in the larger scheme of its vital political project - are best left
>uncontested. If NADD must contest the by-elections, it is duty bound to
>explain how it proposes to do this in conformity with the Supreme Court
>decision even as its fundamental features remain at odds with the minefield
>that is section 91 (1) (d) of the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The
>Gambia.
>
>The Supreme Court decision, tailored to the limited issue of the status of
>the four opposition National Assembly seats, was nevertheless broad enough
>in its seismic implications to unhinge NADD. As contended by the IEC – and
>this view was endorsed by the Justices – UDP, PDOIS, and NRP, "had been
>subsumed under the new political party known as NADD". Logically, this
>position extends to the PPP, and NDAM. The question is whether, by itself,
>this Supreme Court endorsement of the IEC position is sufficient to safe
>NADD as an entity? Not if the full force of section 91 (1) (d) is brought
>into play!
>
>The Constitutional provision is controlled by a proviso, and at least two
>of the party leaders relied on this proviso pre-litigation for the
>untenability of the first, and third defendants' position. Interestingly,
>the legal team protested at the hearing that the party constitutions did
>not prohibit a merger. After the decision, another party leader argued that
>there is no party whose constitution will prohibit a merger with other
>parties.
>
>The constitutional command is explicit in its requirement that parties
>wishing to merge at the national level must be permitted to do so by their
>individual constitutions. The only reason why plaintiffs failed to rely on
>their most lethal weapon - the proviso - was because the party
>constitutions were at best silent on the question of merging with other
>parties.
>
>If this permission was not available, there could be no merger, and if
>there was no merger, then to all intents and purposes, there is legally no
>NADD. Although the IEC relied on its secondary legislative authority
>pursuant to section 127 Elections Decree 1996 to register NADD, that was an
>inconsequential act when juxtaposed against the compelling argument of an
>explicit constitutional command.
>
>In any case, even the IEC's Elections Rule , Rule No. 1 of 2005, conforms
>with the constitutional mandate that parties wishing to merge must be
>authorised by their constitutions to do so. It is unclear why the IEC
>registered NADD without checking that this critical precondition was
>complied with. As the document itself appears to be undated, there is no
>indication whether it was promulgated before, during, or after the Supreme
>Court case.
>
>The merger threshold was set so high that those who drafted section 91 (1)
>(d) knew that navigating its requirements was never going to be an
>uncomplicated process. However, we are confronted with a national
>emergency, and the party leaders must now demonstrate the selflessness we
>all along assumed they possessed, individually, and collectively.
>
>Clearly, we have not yet arrived at the unfulfilled terminus of the NADD
>project, but none of the available options for the journey's successful
>completion are painless. In light of the complicated, and multifaceted,
>nature of the scenarios confronting us as a people, it is not acceptable to
>blame any one party should NADD disintegrate. To blame any individual, or
>party, we must first take the entire leadership to task on how they propose
>to respond to some options out of the evident stalemate.
>
>In my humble opinion, and pursuant to the Supreme Court decision, NADD's
>options may be in two broad categories:
>
>1.     Deregister NADD with the IEC by abandoning the "Agreement in Law", and
>opt for a loose coalition of parties. This calls for cooperation in the
>sense that the opposition pools its support for a presidential candidate
>selected by one party to contest against Jammeh in 2006. The NADD
>coordinator considers this unwise, using APRC's informal marriage with the
>NCP, and what that means for the latter.
>
>2.     Formally disband the constituent parties of NADD (UDP, NRP, PDOIS, PPP,
>NDAM) by each party deregistering itself with the IEC. To implement this,
>NADD must first be deregistered, and then the individual parties would
>amend their constitutions to allow for mergers in conformity with their
>internal procedures for amendment. A fresh application will then be
>submitted to the IEC for registering NADD as an "Agreement in Law". The
>current IEC must first commit in writing to accepting the existing
>secondary legislation on mergers without amendment. After the 2006 general
>elections, the constituent parties of NADD may re-register in their
>individual capacities.
>
>I urge all supporters of NADD to reject the insinuation that one party is
>committed to  driving the Alliance off the road. On any analysis, this
>sounds too simplistic. We should instead lobby the party leaders for a
>commitment to one of the available options, or variations thereof. As
>voluntary, strategic withdrawals, NADD will then re-enter the race for No.
>1 Marina as a lethal force. If it is compelled to disband, the
>psychological implications may sound the death knell for all hope of a
>national democratic rebirth come 2006.
>
>The longer we delay in applying the requisite pressure on the NADD
>leadership, the nearer we are to the day when they announce their intention
>to go their separate ways. In that eventuality, the September by-elections
>will be a picnic in the park compared to the certainty of monumental
>tragedy in 2006.
>
>It is time to constructively apply pressure on the NADD leadership to stay
>the course.
>
>
>LJDarbo
>
> >
> > > >
> > > ___________________________________________________________
> > > Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with
>voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>----------------------------gambiapost.NET------------------------------
> > > ------LATEST NEWS FROM THE GAMBIA, NOW AT:>>-------
> > > http://www.gambiapost.net/newspaper
> > > -------------ACCESS TO OUR ARCHIVE AT:>>-----------
> > > http://www.gambiapost.net/signon.php
> > > (password is : freedumo )
> > > --------CHAT WITH FELLOW GAMBIA POSTERS>>----------
> > > http://65.18.147.105/chat/index.php
> > >
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Be sure to contact List Management for (un)subscription requests by
>e-mail
> > > addressed to: [log in to unmask] or simply follow our DIY
>directions
> > > at:              http://www.gambiapost.net/unsubscribe.htm
> > >
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ©2002 Our Guiding Principle : "Va, pensiero", "Let thought(s) fly
>forth"
> > >
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> >
> > I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die
>for,
> > he isn't fit to live.
> > Martin Luther King Jr.,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------gambiapost.NET------------------------------
> > ------LATEST NEWS FROM THE GAMBIA, NOW AT:>>-------
> > http://www.gambiapost.net/newspaper
> > -------------ACCESS TO OUR ARCHIVE AT:>>-----------
> > http://www.gambiapost.net/signon.php
> > (password is : freedumo )
> > --------CHAT WITH FELLOW GAMBIA POSTERS>>----------
> > http://65.18.147.105/chat/index.php
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Be sure to contact List Management for (un)subscription requests by
>e-mail
> > addressed to: [log in to unmask] or simply follow our DIY
>directions
> > at:              http://www.gambiapost.net/unsubscribe.htm
> >
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ©2002 Our Guiding Principle : "Va, pensiero", "Let thought(s) fly forth"
> >
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
>-----------------------------------------
>Email sent from www.ntlworld.com
>Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software
>Visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information
>
>
>
>
>----------------------------gambiapost.NET------------------------------
>------LATEST NEWS FROM THE GAMBIA, NOW AT:>>-------
>http://www.gambiapost.net/newspaper
>-------------ACCESS TO OUR ARCHIVE AT:>>-----------
>http://www.gambiapost.net/signon.php
>(password is : freedumo )
>--------CHAT WITH FELLOW GAMBIA POSTERS>>----------
>http://65.18.147.105/chat/index.php
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Be sure to contact List Management for (un)subscription requests by e-mail
>addressed to: [log in to unmask] or simply follow our DIY directions
>at:              http://www.gambiapost.net/unsubscribe.htm
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>©2002 Our Guiding Principle : "Va, pensiero", "Let thought(s) fly forth"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

ATOM RSS1 RSS2