Thank you Suntou for sharing. I read Mr. Samateh's cautionary  compromise 
for an opposition alliance to prosecute the 2011 elections in Gambia.  The 
aim is to remove Yahya Jammeh through the ballot box. I was impressed with  
Mr. Samateh's sobriety, if a bit partisan, but a few items are indefensible. I 
 bring here the most significant of these malignancies:
 
[Beyond the solitary question of flag bearer, he must unconditionally  put 
all  other cards on the table.] Foday.
 
I advise that Mr. Darboe keep the cards of Rule of Law and human  rights on 
the table and nothing else for the purposes of enticing any partner to  
alliance-making. These are the only reasons an alliance becomes superior to 
each  party contesting the elections independently. Mr. Darboe must not  
contemplate making any promises on anything else that his own integrity and  the 
integrity of the multitudes of UDP members cannot support.
 
[He needs to make three major concessions to demonstrate that he is  
willing to make real sacrifices for the nation in the interest of alliance.]  
Foday.
 
If Mr. Darboe's integrity and the recognition of such integrity by  the UDP 
supporters and voters is not enough to demonstrate that he has made and  is 
willing to make real sacrifices for the nation, alliance or no alliance, 
then  he does not deserve to lead an alliance of opposition parties. Mr. 
Darboe must  shy away from making concessions he cannot he nor the members of the 
UDP  cannot sustain or support. The only consideration for alliance-making 
is honesty  and sincerity to uphold the constitution of Gambia and to be 
fair among the  constitutent citizens and guests of Gambia.
 
[He needs to unilaterally announce that if elected president on the  united 
opposition ticket, he will serve only one term of five years to end our  
national nightmare.] Foday.
 
Hon. Darboe needs do NO SUCH THING. Mr. Darboe cannot promise that he  will 
only serve one 5-year term in office when he would urge a 2-5-year  
term-limits for succeeding governors, to include any prospective governor  issuing 
from allied opposition parties or the APRC. For alliance-making  sakes, the 
allied governor should be restricted only by the 2-5-year-term limit.  If 
Yahya had agreed to a 2-5-year-term limit, that would have been one less  
reason for an alliance. No matter the desire for alliance-making. The crimes of  
Yahya for which we desire an alliance, are not related to a 1-5-year term 
limit.  And it is only the scale of the criminal's ware that addresses 
term-limits. If  Darboe is compelled to make a promise of serving only 1-5-year 
term limit and  institute a 2-5-year term limit in the constitution, the only 
concession he  needs to make is that the new governor must issue from the 
UDP party to complete  the second term. Now there's a compromise of 
due-diligent leadership. We must  remember that even after an alliance is formed, the 
voters of UDP will be a  significant partner in the success of the Alliance. 
If after Darboe's first  5-year-term, the next governor of Gambia issues 
from another party that is not  the UDP, (to include the possibility of an 
APRC governor), why should that  governor serve 2-5-year terms and the UDP only 
one. It is spectacularly  egregious, unfair, and unconscionable. Alliance 
or no alliance. It is important  to reflect on what expedition inures. 
Expedition inured us Yahya and expedition  and impunity inured the criminal in 
Yahya. There is no guarantee that  another Gambian will not become a criminal, 
And fairness is the barometer of  criminality.
 
[He needs to publicly give all the assurances that the key positions  in 
the transition government from vice president, foreign minister, justice  
minister, finance minister, interior minister and others will be given to  
alliance partners at a unity conference.] Foday.
 
Why? Mr. Darboe must make no such promise. If he is enticed into  making 
promises, it should be that, if he becomes President, his cabinet  will 
reflect the composition of Gambia's constituent ethnicities and  interests. 
Anything less or more will be egregious for Gambians. Again  absent the 
criminalities of Yahya which include the odious composition of his  cabinet, there 
would have been no appetite to replace him, with or without  term-limits. If 
any opposition party required such promise, they are not genuine  partners in 
alliance-making. The problem will then become how do you distribute  those 
key-positions among the opposition parties and why remove UDP officials  and 
partisans from consideration for those key positions.?? This is the most  
arsenine promise any leader of allied parties can make.
 
[He needs to also publicly declare that the Shadow Cabinet of the Alliance  
will come up with a comprehensive bill of democratic reforms as the 
campaign  platform.] Foday.
 
Nice try Foday. WHy not just kill the UDP and ensure they never  
participate in Gambia's governance again. The bill of democratic reforms of the  UDP, 
NRP, GMC, PPP, or PDOIS are exactly alike and any one or all of them are  
enough as campaign platform. The shadow cabinet will be a compendium of the  
constituent citizens of Gambia who sustain alliance victory. We must  keep 
open the privilege of the shadow cabinet including citizens who do not  belong 
to any of the allied parties. The parties themselves, after amalgamation,  
will not yield victory for the alliance. It is the mass support of Gambian  
citizens that will yield victory for the alliance. Hon. Halifa's AGENDA 2011 
 recognizes the value of this citizenry by allowing for the alliance 
flagbearer  to potentially issue from civil society or other independent partner. 
Mr. Darboe  must not promise that key cabinet positions of an alliance 
governor be  reserved to the allied party officials nor that such odious Shadow 
cabinet be  mandated to come up with an alliance campaign platform. Any 
Alliance campaign  platform must be a synthesis of the individual party platforms 
of the allied  parties, which synthesis should be completed by an alliance 
campaign  committee.
 
[These reforms must include: writing a new Constitution to ensure  full and 
proper Separation of Powers and  term limit for the President,] Foday.
 
This item is already included in the platforms and policy positions  of all 
the opposition parties who will form the alliance.
 
[realigning the state institutions in conformity with open and  transparent 
government, and restructuring the economy.] Foday.
 
Ditto. I encourage Foday to review any of the prospective alliance  
parties' platforms and share his findings with us.
 
[The policy and institutional reform aspects of the 2006 MoU and  Agenda 
2011 are great starting points and he needs to say so to reassure fellow  
opposition leaders that he is reaching out in good faith and not taking them for 
 a ride.] Foday.
 
Excepting the cacamayme primary stipulation and the 2-year term  limit, and 
the proviso that the prospective alliance governor not be eligible to  run 
for office after the idiotic 2-year-term, the 2006 MOU and or AGENDA  2011 
are both inferior to any of the prospective parties' policy platforms. No  
need to waste time writing another thesis. We have wasted enough time  already.
 
[He also needs to caution his supporters to cease and desist from  using 
crude and gratuitous language in reference to his fellow  opposition leaders.] 
Foday.
 
All opposition leaders must always caution their supporters to cease  and 
desist from using crude and gratuitous language in reference to alliance  
leaders. I inform Foday that Hons. Ousainou, Hamat, Hassan Musa, Mai, OJ,  
Halifa, and Sidia have all been issuing such cautions and they will continue to  
issue them.
 
[If he will insist on being the leader he must act like one both  publicly 
and privately.] Foday.
 
Hon. Ousainou does not insist on being the leader of any opposition  
alliance. Hon. Ousainou is the elected leader of the UDP party. Any serious and  
sincere opposition alliance must fall in behind the UDP if the desire is to  
remove Yahya from the presidency of Gambia. By default, Hon. Ousainou Darboe 
is  the appropriate leader of any such alliance until such a time that the 
UDP  chooses another leader or the UDP is no longer the majority political 
party in  the Gambia, or until such a time where votes are not significant 
barometers of  political affinity.
 
I thank FOday for what seemed an earnest effort at Alliance-making  and I 
encourage him to study his suggestions one more time.
 
Haruna.
 
 
In a message dated 1/4/2011 6:35:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

_http://www.thegambiaecho.com/Homepage/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/arti
cleId/2150/OpinionFor-The-Gambia-Our-Homeland.aspx_ 
(http://www.thegambiaecho.com/Homepage/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2150/OpinionFor-Th
e-Gambia-Our-Homeland.aspx) 
 
Foday Samateh, I agree with you. I wasn't a UDP supporter either during  
the NADD debacle, because Ousainou allowed himself to be taken for granted.  
Life is about facing reality and handing undue concession is totally prone to 
 failures. Lamin Waa was used by those who knew they have no muscle to 
muster  yet allowed his non-existence principle to gallop to flag bearer  
position. I concur with your criticism of Ousainou for his 2006  allowances and it 
this allowances that Musa Jeng is pinning his compromise on.  NADD is a 
political party of its own, this is against the grains of what  should have 
done, hence NADD is not an option. An Excellent honest  speaking. Imagine if we 
have more PDOIS thinkers like you and Bailo.  Thanks
Suntou

-- 
Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His  signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the 
difference of your  languages and colours. Verily, in that are indeed signs for 
men of sound  knowledge." Qu'ran

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