In a message dated 6/10/03 3:31:02 PM Central Daylight Time,
Dear Brother Joe Sambou,

I will be putting my money where my mouth is as soon as we are clear what the
objectives of this coalition will be.In the meantime, your points are clear.
However, I would like to point out that taking on the Jammeh regime on their
record is certainly a timely topic for the campaign platform, but I think that
in order to serve the needs of the country and the people which is the purpose
of electing new leadership and removing this regime, the first order of the
day should be to determine first if these opposition parties are going to
infact form a solid coalition that will cooperate fully with each other, and how
they will form it and what their agenda of business will be, instead of
promising a coalition and then coming up with self interest factions like the last
time. I personally have no interest in supporting  any such factions masquerading
as a coalition.
The determination of this is what has to happen first and foremost in order
for them to be able  to get our support and that of the Gambian people so they
can launch a campaign that will be effective in defeating the APRC regime.
If the people know there is genunie unity among the opposition, with a common
goal, they will have the confidence and encouragement they need to throw
their support fully behind a coalition.
On the other hand, if there are signs of factions forming,  then people will
loose confidence in the ability of the opposition to unseat Jammeh, and fear
of repercussions after the elections will be the guiding factor in the choices
people will make as to who to support, the  APRC will use this insecurity to
undermine the opposition  while sending out veiled threats to the public
again.

No doubt, putting together an effective opposition working group will take
some work that will also require the imput of both the interested Gambians in
the diaspora,  as well as people on the ground., and will require a lot of
organization and cooperation which should not be a problem if the goodwill and the
intentions are there. We need a clear blueprint from the opposition parties
laying out thier plans for full cooperation among all the opposition parties.
Simply put, this will require that perhaps each party will select
representatives and an interim set of leaders for the coalition be set up, with said
leaders going on to lead an interim coalition government with plans for new
elections to be held  at an agreed time in the future should they be effective in
unseating the Jammeh regime.

This coalition leadership to be comprised of representatives selected by each
opposition party will then work as one party essentially to oppose the APRC
in the coming elections. It is a tall order, but this is the general idea I
envision although I am no political scientist. Just my ideas.
I think this basic idea can be the guiding principles for those who can then
take it and refine it and come up with something professional and acceptable.
The biggest challenge is to have the different parties accept this idea, but
they must be made aware that they represent the people, and we need some action
that is going to get us out of our current situation, and if they step
forward to take on the task of public office, then right now,  this si what we
demand from them. We can make this a condition for supporting a coalition
financially and otherwise.

Jabou Joh

[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Sidibeh and Johnson, thanks for your comments regarding the fund and the
> proposed coalition for the opposition.  Sidibeh, you are right on the money
> for stating that this is not a mere ceremony to throw in a few Dollars.  The
> opposition is invited for the July 4 conference to come and share with us
> their vision for a future Gambia.  APRC is invited to tell us what they have
> done for us before, currently, and in the future.  All this is going to take
> place on Friday, July 4.  Then on Saturday, that's when your good self,
> Malamin, moi, and all that are interested in seeing the opposition come
> together would have a face to face on the money we intend to collect for
> them and what we want to see them do.  I am talking about concrete actions,
> not fluff.  Contrary to some proposals that are floating around, we are not,
> and I repeat, WE ARE NOT going to let the opposition leaders come here and
> huddle up amongst themselves on this or that.  They can do that in the
> Gambia and do not need to fly thousands of miles to get acquainted with each
> other.  I think that should be made perfectly clear to all and sundry.  We,
> the people are going to request certain things we want them to incorporate
> in their common platform and to also listen to their ideas.
>
> We do not intend to repeat any of the circus that transpired in the run-up
> to the last presidential elections.  All the opposition leaders are
> perfectly aware of what's going on, on-line.  They cannot come here and
> begin to defer us to their congress or other delaying schemes.  Delaying
> tactics are not going to be tolerated from none.  I say this in reference to
> our past.
>
> Regarding the MRDG document, we have not yet heard from the group in
> question and I will defer to them to advise us.  In the mean time, what we
> can do is to come up with a list of challenges we want them to include in
> their well thought out program, such as: the right to vote by diasporans in
> the coming elections; revising the current constitution to include certain
> safeguards for a more democratic society; seriously challenging the IEC for
> any missteps; campaign strategy; addressing the corruption issue in the
> country; taking the government on, on the oil deals/scams, etc.  We cannot
> wait until 2006 to start our fight.  We (the opposition and all Gambians
> that want meaningful change) have to work hard from now until the elections.
>   We cannot entrust this process in the hands of a few and I plead that
> folks invite themselves in this process and not wait to be invited.
>
> Chi Jaama
>
> Joe Sambou
>
>

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

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