Malanding,
            The  questions you raised are indeed quite legitimate. There
has been a lot of  discussion centered on most of the questions you raised,
and I have  been privilege to be a party to those discussions. In as much as I
 would not claim to speak for PDOIS, or to be a member of PDOIS, I would
bring snippets of that discussion that can partly answer some of your  query.
The discussion, or if you will conversation, has been very  extensive, and
covers most of the areas of your inquiry. Therefore, instead of  speaking
for PDOIS, I would let their statements speak for themselves.


"Hence it has been clear to us from the very inception that we  could not
take over executive power in a democratic way without a mass base. We  had to
develop a strategy on how to build a mass base. We had to address the
obstacles which lay in our path. We had to identify the obstacles in order to
work out the strategy to overcome them. What then were the obstacles?

"The major obstacle was the absence of a democratic culture which  enables
people to listen to divergent views and make informed choices. Only one 
voice was authoritative and legitimate and that was the voice of the
executive.  All criticism of the state was seen as an act of subversion  against
constituted authority. Supporters of the ruling party were patronised  while
those who were opposed to it were demonised, excluded from the mainstream  of
society and subjected to intimidation just to convince others that being in
the opposition could only yield trouble, marginalization and misery. Our
principal task was to create an alternative voice which would be considered
authoritative and legitimate despite the fact that it is not that of the
government.

 "This was our first strategy. We had to employ two tactics to attain  our
strategic objectives. First and foremost, we started to transform our
rallies into civic education programmes in order to educate the average Gambian
to know his or her sovereign right as tax payer and as a  sovereign citizen
of the country who should determine who governs the country and how. This
earned  PDOIS respectability and legitimacy as the population contended that
we were  preachers and not politicians. Despite the votes of the other
parties PDOIS’  rallies and symposia became the most authoritative source of
facts and figures  regarding developments in the country which were put in
cassettes and  disseminated without incurring legal problems. This gave
credibility to the  alternative voice.

"Secondly, we decided to establish a newspaper which would give an
alternative view on developments in the country. This newspaper became a source  of
credible information which is relied on as a source information even by 
members of the executive. Hence between 1987 and 1994 when the coup occurred
PDOIS had become institutionalised as a credible force which should be
listened  to and taken seriously.

"The second task PDOIS had to address was the question of expanding its 
mass base.We discovered that the mass base of the ruling party may have 
reflected a popular will at the beginning but at the time of PDOIS’ birth the
support was based on patronage. The Commissioners, Chiefs, Village heads, and
all those in position of authority in government or private sector had the
primary aim of sustaining the Government in power. The masses were
generally  controlled by their social groups and the heads of those groups were
mobilised  by the ruling party to build its own political base. Our review of
the system of  patronage also revealed that the existing opposition parties
were just mimicking  the system of patronage of the ruling party. They would
look at all the  government and private structures and then promise the
rivals of those who  occupy different positions that they would replace the
substantive holder of any  office once change comes about. These promises often
motivate those who aspire  to be ministers, heads of departments and
para-statals, ambassadors,  commissioners, chiefs  and  Village heads to utilise
their energy,  time, resources and connections to campaign for the opposition
party. This  created a two party system based on patronage.

"When PDOIS appeared on the political scene it had the option of
establishing its own mass movement based on patronage or establish an entirely
different system of mobilisation and organisation of the masses.

"It became clear to us that we could never rely on the politics of
patronage to establish the type of mass base necessary to effect change. We had  to
build links directly with the masses that do not benefit from the politics
or  patronage but are just used as tools by political middle persons who
batter the  support of the masses, whom they mobilise as opinion leaders, for
privileges  from political patrons.

"PDOIS could not make any head way unless it could succeed in enlightening
the people to liberate themselves from their opinion leaders and support
those  who intend to address their needs and aspirations. This required for
PDOIS to  have roots in each community. This could not be possible until we
had branches  in each community. The branches could not be established until
we had members in  each community who are capable of earning the respect and
trust of the people.  The primary task of the party as of the 1992 elections
was to build its branches  all over the country. We started a country wide
tour in 1993 which should have  been completed in 1994.The tour was linked
to the mobilization of PDOIS  supporters throughout the country so that they
would serve as the building  blocks of the branches of the party..."

 Malanding, as you can see from the dilation in the above quoted
statements, PDOIS was quite conversant since from the beginning of the obstacles
they face and the challenges they have to overcome. Contrary to what many may
believe, PDOIS is very open to challenge and parts of the discussions I 
have forwarded here were the results of a serious and intensive query to some
of  PDOIS's methods and tactics. As the conversation progress, I will
highlight more  relevant answers that is germane to all the questions you raised.

   Rene



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