Folks, below is what I call citizens carving out their destiny.  None will
hold a country hostage to eternity and the people are not going to wait
until a dictator dies naturally or becomes senile, only to be replaced by
another dictator.  No, the people are going to effect change and put in
controls that would send any feature crooked leader to the cage.  This is
bad news for dictators, for they cannot anymore hide with their loot and
crimes abroad and they cannot stay in power till their death or sickness.
Please read on.


Coup Leaders Let a Civilian Become Interim President

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

September 22, 2003
Posted to the web September 22, 2003

Bissau

The military officers who seized power in Guinea-Bissau a week ago, have
agreed in principle to let a civilian take over as president of an interim
government for up to two years while fresh elections are organized.

General Verissimo Correia Seabra, who declared himself acting head of state,
told visiting Senegalese interior minister Macky Sall on Sunday that he was
willing to step aside to let a civilian become interim president.


He also gave the same pledge to Mozambican parliamentary affairs minister
Francisco Caetano Madeira, who arriived as an envoy of the African Union.

But military leaders remained locked in discussions with the leaders of 17
political parties on Monday over what form the new government of this small
West African country should take and who should become president and prime
minister.

Sources at the meeting said there was a general consensus that Henrique
Pereira Rosa, a respected local businessman with no political afiliation,
should become interim president.

However, opinions were divided over whether Artur Sanha, secretary general
of the Social Renovation Party (PRS) of deposed president Kumba Yala should
become prime minister, they added.

The sources said Sanha was the clear favourite for the job, but some
participants objected that he was not politically independent. Others
meanwhile expressed concern over charges that Sanha had killed Florinda
Baptista, a woman with whom he reportedly had a relationship, while he was
interior minister in 2001. Sanha was sacked by Kumba Yala soon after her
death, but court proceedings against him were dropped for lack of evidence.

Correia Seabra, the chief of staff of the armed forces, ousted Kumba Yala in
a bloodless coup on 14 September to prevent this former colony of 1.3
million people sliding into political and administrative chaos.

Kumba Yala was elected with a strong majority in early 2000, but soon
alienated most of his former supporters. He dissolved parliament in November
last year after it passed a vote of no confidence in him and then delayed
four times the holding of fresh legislative elections. Kumba Yala also
engaged in endless cabinet reshuffles and his bankrupt government owed
soldiers, civil servants, teachers and hospital workers several months of
pay arrears.

An ad-hoc commission of political leaders and military officers chaired by
Jose Camnate Na Bissign, the Roman Catholic bishop of Bissau, proposed on
Friday that fresh parliamentary elections should be held in six months time
and presidential elections a year later.

It also recommended that the interim government be held accountable to a
Transitional National Council, a broad-based council of civilian and
military representatives which would act as a nominated legislature and
consultative body until the holding of parliamentary elections.

Sall told the Senegalese news agency APS after meeting Correia Seabra on
Sunday that he had passed on a suggestion from Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade that the Guinea-Bissau army should establish a military
watchdog committee to ensure that the transition process was properly
implimented.

_________________________________________________________________
Get McAfee virus scanning and cleaning of incoming attachments.  Get Hotmail
Extra Storage!   http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es

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

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