Mr. Dampha:
I appreciate your comment. The opposition should unite so that
we can easily flush out Mr. Jammeh.
I think also the leaders should engage in initiating a vote on
who they think is the most electible in the opposition. No opposition
party should have the notion of selecting its standard bearer
at the expense of our overall strategy.
Since we are calling for unity, we must also understand that
our efforts to flush out Mr. Jammeh should be based on selecting
a candidate within the opposition who has a greater chance
of defeating the APRC candidate.
Naphiyo,
Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
Greensboro, NC/Kombo East Constituency
Original Message:
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From: Dampha Kebba [log in to unmask]
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 12:24:47 -0400
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Decree 89 Politicians
I join Jessey-Conteh in his call to Decree 89 politicians to join the
current Opposition to unseat the Dictatorship in the country. Clearly, these
politicians belong in the Opposition. After all, Yaya stole power from them
in 1994 and continues to this day to lie about their record. So, apart from
low-lives like Buba Baldeh, all these politicians should NOT associate
themselves with the people that usurped power from a democratically elected
government.
What we have here, is Yaya yet again administering another nail in his own
coffin. The moron’s calculations are going to backfire big time. APRC knew
that so long as this Decree was in place, that will taint the entire
elections process even absent of tangible evidence that the ballots were
rigged. Yaya and his cohorts might be stupid, but they know that much. With
the Decree in place, the Opposition need NOT prove vote rigging on Election
Day or months leading to elections in order to convince the international
community that the elections was NOT free and fair. So, Yaya decided to lift
the unconstitutional ban imposed on certain Gambian politicians in order to
preempt charges that the elections were rigged. This is all that this
gimmickry is worth. The Opposition will not point to Decree 89 to justify
rigging. But as the powerful UDP ‘open letter’ showed, there are numerous
other things we can point to in order to show that the elections are being
rigged. To name a few: the chaotic re-registration exercise. Lack of media
access. Lies spread on GRTS on a daily basis regarding ‘defections’ to the
APRC. Gabriel Roberts’ attempts to tamper with ballot boxes. Arrest and
unlawful incarceration of the APRC opponents. Rampant bribery to win support
for the government. So, Decree 89 (one form of rigging) might be gone, but
we have other things to deal with. The bottom-line is that Yaya CANNOT win a
free and fair election in the country. The moron knows that and all his
supporters know that. He has nothing to offer us beside misery. He has
stolen from our people and continues to brutalize innocent Gambians. The
High School dropout does NOT have a vision that can move the country
forward. Decent Gambians have no reason to vote for him. Knowing that, he
will try to use intimidation, bribery and criminal behavior to win the
elections. It is incumbent on decent Gambians to ensure that the man does
NOT force himself onto us. We do NOT need a child-murderer that goes around
ordering the slaughter of innocent and defenseless children as our leader.
I am encouraged in my belief that this decision about Decree 89 will
backfire on Yaya, when I read Gambian newspapers and saw that Assan Musa
Camara spoke to Jawara about the Decree. APRC is calculating that they can
split the Opposition by encouraging the ex-politicians to resuscitate their
old parties. The Decree 89 politicians must not fall for this cheap gimmick.
It is their patriotic duty to join the Opposition and help clean a mess they
somewhat helped create in the first place. The Decree 89 politicians should
all rally behind one presidential candidate that is going to be fielded by
the current Opposition. Once that president is in place, all politicians in
the country can participate under any banner they want come the
parliamentary elections in January 2002. Now is not the time to revisit old
rivalries and resuscitate old parties. In the same spirit that the Decree 89
politicians and the current Opposition converged in London on the same
platform, they should come together for the larger Gambian good. APRC CANNOT
withstand an assault from a Coalition of ALL political parties in the
country. The writing is clearly on the wall that Yaya’s days are numbered.
Here is a chance for the Decree 89 politicians to vindicate themselves by
joining the current Opposition behind ONE Presidential candidate to unseat
Yaya. The current Opposition should announce a SINGLE candidate as soon as
possible and seek the endorsement of the PPP, NCP and GPP Decree 89
politicians. We need NOT drive away these Gambians from the home they belong
naturally: the Opposition. OJ should be encouraged to go to Serrekunda and
partake in an Opposition rally and canvass with Opposition leaders. S.M.
Dibba should go to his people in Banjul and Baddibu to campaign for the
Opposition. Assan Musa Camara MUST neutralize Buba Baldeh. The current
Opposition should go after these leaders vigorously and convince them to
join the Opposition. We need them.
KB
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