George,
The justifications for a constitutional/democratic struggle to effect
political change in The Gambia are gradually crashing on the rocks. The
issue at hand is a simple one, and lets maintain it so, so that everyone can
understand what we are talking about. We want Yaya Jammeh's  judges to tell
us why students and workers' Unions can form alliances/umbrella
organizations(federations/confederations) in the name of freedom of
association, while partisan political organizations cannot do so.
If indeed we are agreed that the entire electoral process is already rigged,
and the constitution provides no remedy for that, then our options for the
way forward are limited. It should be noted that throughout history, it is
the actions of dictators themselves which determind the requisite action for
their removal from power. Thus if Yaya Jammeh's judges destroy NADD, It may
be regarded as the recipe for A Revolutionary Armed Struggle in The Gambia
by some people.  Thus president Jammeh should be warned of the possible
consequences of his apparent lack of tolerance for the opposition. He should
not be so naive as to think that Gambians would not fight for freedom and
justice by means of an armed struggle, when all other options are closed to
them.
Omar Joof.
Omar Joof.

>From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Re: [>-<] POLITICAL SUICIDE.......
>Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 01:09:33 -0400
>
>[ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by
>"[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> ]
>
>
>Omar,
>  Abso-friggin-lutely. Yaya Jammeh is the Gambian Constitution. This is the
>first thing every Gambian have to come to terms with. 'Constitution Jammeh'
>fired the IEC Chairman and his staff willy nilly. never mind that he is
>suppose to be just another presidential candidate like the rest of NADD and
>cannot dictate IEC's rules and regulation let alone having the power to
>unilaterally fire any IEC member, unchallenged. Now, the so-called Supreme
>Court judges (bunch of emasculated lackeys cum Govt. chicken boys) are on
>the chopping block and 'Constitution Jammeh' is once again threatening them
>to come up with draconian laws at the eleventh hour so they can entangle!
>NADD's leadership in some legal (illegal) rigamarole that ONLY caters to
>the whims and caprices of 'Constitution Jammeh'. Basically, their strategy:
>Dismantle NADD at all cost, or get fired. So here you have Yaya Jammeh
>controlling two supposedly independent bodies, the IEC and the Supreme
>Court. With such absolute power, I'm beginning to wonder whether elections
>are even worth contesting in The Gambia. I'll be damned if it hasn't
>crossed the mind of every Gambian that we should just shoot the bastard and
>move on with our daily lives. What do you all think? I mean our situation
>is drastic. It's like being trapped around the tentacles of an octopus. You
>just can't break free!
>
>Anyhew, one way or the other, something has to give. You just can't keep
>pushing law-abiding citizen to the edge and expect that to continue forever
>(abadan!) .
>
>Something has to give. May God bless us all!
>
>"Justice may in her magnanimity endure much insult, but repeated wrongs
>shall awake the lion spirit, and woe unto the oppressor in that, day. We
>have been silent, and are willing to be silent still, but do not provoke
>the whole body of Dissenters to rise upon you; do not compel the spiritual
>Nonconformist to become political; do not extort our cries; do not wring
>lamentation from our patient hearts, or you shall know that we can cry
>aloud, and spare not. You shall rue the day in which oppression unloosed
>our tongues. We will never again permit the nation to subside into the
>apathy so favourable to proud pretensions. We court not the struggle, but
>we are ready for it if you are ambitious for the combat. We know your
>unhealed and unmollified wounds, and our blows will tell upon your
>putrefying sores. Our armoury is filled with arrows feathered with your
>follies and barbed with your backslidings. Provoke not the fray. "
>
>                                           - Spurgeon
>
>Interpret it as you may. Woe to the oppressor!
>
>
>George
>
>
>Original Message:
>-----------------
>From: omar joof [log in to unmask]
>Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:09:19 +0000
>To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Re: [>-<] POLITICAL SUICIDE.......
>
>
>[ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by "omar joof"
><[log in to unmask]> ]
>
>
>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
> >
> > >
> > > > >
> > > > ___________________________________________________________
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