Mariatou, thanks very much for your insights and welcome to this Bantaba.  I
agree with your conclusions and many people on this list agree with you only
they would not vocalize it.  It is an observation that some in the
opposition do not want to hear, but as stakeholders we have to honestly
review what went down in the last elections for the opposition.  Any keen
observer of politics knows that the PPP was the "Hunch Back Of Notre Dame"
in the last elections.  The manner in which they surfaced and hijacked the
process is evident to all and their eagerness to regaining the helm blinded
them to obvious realities.  The people have every reason to be suspicious of
the UDP/PPP relationship, especially when the latter frontloaded the
coalition campaign with its members.  The PPP was a dead weight and
continues to be a dead weight to the opposition and it behooves us to
acknowledge that fact.  And for one to suggest that the UDP has more in
common with the PPP is the height of the denial that grip some of us.  For
starters, the UDP should stop interpreting who the PPP are and what they
stand for, to the Gambian people.  They should realize that the electorate
lived with the PPP for 30 years and their opinions are based on real life
experiences not conjecture.  As long as the UDP continues to not see the PPP
in the eyes of Gambians, but in their onw liking, their chances in future
elections are a forgone conclusion.  Be rest assured that your conclusions
are shared by many on this list and it's up to one to believe otherwise.

On a side note, like Katim and others have stated, your postings and that of
the many heroines on this list reinforces our belief that we need more
female participation on this list for our country to make progress we aspire
for.  Thanks for your observations and I hope many more of your colleagues
will join the online discussions and not be silent observers.  We need your
contributions at all levels.  We may not be addressing a great many issues
relating to the plight of women in our society on this list, partly because
most of the contributors are male and, therefore, tend to focus on general
issues that affect our society at large.  Thanks for your perspective in the
discussions.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou

>From: Mariatou Sonko <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: PPP, The grinch who stole the elections
>Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 17:06:17 -0500
>
>I read, with keen interest, the many analysis of the most recent
>presidential election.  I was going to leave the issue to rest because it
>has been dealt with at length, but, again I felt that there are some very
>important factors that were not mentioned or I might have missed in the
>archives.  If this is a repetition of some of the issues that you have
>already discussed, I appologize for clogging your boxes.
>
>Being in The Gambia during the election period and attending countless
>rallies by various political parties, I had a first hand knowledge of some
>of the events.  Not that my opinion is any more credible than any others,
>but my opinion is based on personal observation and numerous discussions
>that I had with Gambian citizens in the country.
>
>  I have to agree with those who highlighted the damage that the PPP caused
>the coalition.  To understand the situation, we have to put politics aside
>and reason the situation objectively.  It has been an open secret long
>before the annulment of decree 89 that the UDP and PPP were having a
>liason, infact the two were so intertwined that they were almost
>inseparable.  Most Gambians were of the opinion that the UDP was only a
>proxy of the PPP.  It has been highly rumoured that the PPP formed and
>bankrolled the UDP, thus the latter was very dependent on the former.
>
>I think this relationship between the UDP and PPP was the reason why the
>oppositions could not forged a full-blown coalition.  The UDP was so
>dependent on the PPP that they could not afford to go ahead with the other
>oppositions without the blessing of the PPP.  Darboe is a gentleman, but he
>was caught in a political dilemma where he had to choose between the PPP
>(because of his loyalty/obligation to them) and the rest of the
>opposition.  Over the years, the PPP had invested so much in the UDP that
>they could not afford to see other political parties reap the benefits of
>their long held investment.  Thus the two of them (PPP&UDP) decide to go it
>alone in secret by sidelining the rest of the opposition (with the
>exception of GPP).  They thought it was a risk that was worth taking, only
>time did prove them wrong.
>
>A lot of Gambians, atleast in private, felt that the formation of the semi-
>coalition was nebulous and suspicious; this was confirmed during the
>campaign when the former PPP stalwarts were resurrected and they seem to
>have dominated the UDP agenda ever since their liason was legitimize with
>the annullment of decree 89.  The rest of the opposition parties felt
>deluded and spoofed, perhaps rightfully so, by the alliance......and the
>rest is history.
>
>On another related issue, I think most Gambians in the diaspora have
>underestimated the Gambian electorate.  The people may be poor, some
>illiterate, without the comforts of the west but they sure think
>rationally.  Intelligence and rationality are two different things, what
>our people lack in western knowledge they make up in their common knowledge
>(rationality).  To say that the people are ill-informed, illiterate,
>unprincipled, vote selling citizens is egregious and outright erroneous.
>
>Besides those with vested interest in the APRC and the UDP, the average
>Gambian knows that both the two main political parties campaigned very
>negatively.  Anyone can pick and choose which party to blame, but during
>the campaign trail both parties were using tribalist sentiments,
>encouraging violence, and prepared to do whatever it takes to win.  One
>cannot help but to be dissappointed by the way the two parties conducted
>themselves, and this was cheered by both their leaders and militants.
>There were threats and counter threats from both sides and the doomsayers
>were making the most apocalyptical prediction ever imagined.
>
>The voters felt like they had to choose between two evils, but they had to
>choose the lesser of the two.  Most people that I spoke to had this to say:
>they knew the APRC and their record, but cannot imagine what will befall
>the serene nation if the UDP/PPP won and they had to make good of their
>threats by going after young men with guns.  You may not be able to imagine
>their rationality if you live in the diaspora, but if you lived in the
>Gambia throughout the campaign, have your entire family in the country, you
>cannot help but to admire/respect their wisdom and sagacity even if you
>disagree with their decision.
>
>Throughout the country, especially in the rural areas, people of all
>political affiliations were gathering in mosques/churches on a daily basis
>imploring God to save the nation.  I have attended close to half dozen
>prayer sermons were people prayed not for any party but for whatever
>outcome will bring peace.  Whether their/our prayers have been answered or
>not I cannot tell, but their intentions were apparent, and thus the Gambian
>voters were/are not any less unprincipled than anyone who claim that they
>have done the greatest wrong imaginable.
>
>Sorry for the lengthy sermon, I just think it is fair that we weigh all the
>facts without any bias and malice so that we can respectfully agree to
>disagree.  Whilst making our judgements, we have to be sensitive of the
>concerns of our fellow Gambians who do not have the privileges that most
>Gambians in the diaspora are enjoying.  At this point, it matters not
>how/who we want to win but rather how we can forge a meaningful
>relationship so that we all can enjoy the tranquility and prosperity that
>all we all deserve.
>
>Cheers
>Mariatou
>
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