The Point
March 12, 2001
Banjul
Some British MPs have decided to come up with a cross-party working group of parliamentarians, which will have special interest in The Gambia.
This was said to have followed the London meeting which was jointly convened by the UK-based Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in The Gambia and British Members of Parliament.
The members were said to have also resolved to engage their foreign and Commonwealth officer with a view to influence their policies and get them politically involved in specific issues on the Gambia.
Hon. Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North and the vice chairman of the highly influential House of Common Select Committee on Human Rights was reported to have pledged his support towards what they termed as "the cause of democratic restoration in the Gambia." He was said to have lamented the erosion of the basic and fundamental rights of the Africans.
Speaking during the meeting, the former Gambian leader, Dawda K. Jawara made a parallelism between his government's achievements regarding the maintenance of multiparty democracy, rule of law, promotion and respect for Human Rights and the Jammeh era. Since 1994, he said the AFPRC/APRC has reversed those policies and eventually amassed a shameful record of human rights abuses.
"Under the regime the country's economy and infrastructure has deteriorated alarmingly and the people's standard of living has plummeted, yet the dictatorship shows every sign of wanting to cling to power indefinitely by any possible means," Jawara stated. The former president also called for the early repeal of Decree 89, which he described, had been trampling on the rights of Gambians.
He ended by emphasising that the opposition parties should come together and agree on a common strategy to see the removal of APRC through the ballot box.
Other speakers included Hon. Hamat Bah, Omar Jallow and several others.
The meeting was said to have been attended by representatives of Commonwealth and International organisations.
 |
|
 |
Copyright © 2001 The Point. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |