In a message dated 5/12/2001 8:17:10 AM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< If these people truely wants to lead us in the interest of all and sundry,
 then why can't they put their differences aside and work for an amicable
 compromise that will gurantee all and sundry a decisive victory over APRC,
 especially when it seems suicidal at this stage for any single opposition
 party to assume they can win on their own >>
______________________
I have been silent on this issue, and have not sent in any money partly
because I also have had the above question, as well as others on my mind.

I am sure I remember brother Halifa Sallah making the statement on this
forum, that he will support only a  colaition that will  consider Sidia Jatta
as the leadership candidate or something to that effect.
The UDP has not really responded to a call for a coalition of the opposition
or clearly stated their poition on this issue, and no one ever hears anything
from the NRP, so for us on the L, they may as well not exist.

The big question I  have is this. Who gets this money, and how will it be
divided? Do we give portions to each opposition party, and for what purpose?
If these guys do not form a coalition, they stand the chance of a snowball in
hell of any of them winning any election with the current state of affairs in
our country.

As things are now, they have not given us any indication that any of them is
willing to give up their quest to be number one to unite to save our country
in it's darkest hour. This in itself is very revealing vis a vis the kinds of
people who are aspiring to lead us.It appears that what we have here is a
case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians as the old saying goes.

Does this not tell us that all we have are a bunch of power hungry folk who
will not budge because they think that the other guy may become president and
not them? Are we then not back to the same old drawing board of the position
being more important to these guys than the country and the people who are
the reason they can be leaders in the first place?

There is no point just giving a portion of these funds to each party. What
purpose will it serve? Help them buy votes like the corrupt and criminal
Jammeh regime that we are trying to get rid of, and at the same time waste
money becasue we know that separately, they cannot win.? On the other hand,
maybe some of them have a false sense of thinking that they can win due to
some sheer percieved numbers of people that they assume will vote for them.
Again, they are dead wrong as those minor elections just held have shown.

 It seems to me that the handwriting is on the wall for these opposition
parties to see, and yet, they are all rearing on their heels waiting for God
knows what.

Brother Joe Sambou, you are an admirable brother in my view, and collecting
this money is something that needs to be done if we have the coalition in
place to show us that we the pwople are more important than the individual
aspirations of the leadership pf these opposition parties, but we need to ask
these people these hard hitting questions and get concrete answers backed by
verifiable action on their part to see if they desrreve our asistance.

We cannot afford to finance another bunch of people whose personal interest
is more important to them that the Gambian people. We have to stop doing that
or we will never get anywhere. It is time that those who aspire to lead us
stop to listen to our demands as the people, because without us, the people,
there will be no leadership.

Jabou Joh

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