Tomaa,

I think you are expecting too much if you suppose that the good doctor Saine 
would surprise you by responding to your questions. I can hardly imagine 
that he ows you anything.
In times like these, the Gambian condition would produce all kinds of 
ingenuous noon-day politricksters advancing all kinds of "logical" and 
rational arguments in support of one nominee or another. Blatant propaganda 
techniques would even be used to make us all believe that there is certainty 
where there should be much doubt; that outcomes of processes are crystal 
even when the these are still contentious at best. If one repeats 
sufficiently enough that "OJ is selected", every other possible candidate 
becomes more of a spoiler rather than an equally electable contender. It 
gets even easier if you have a jumpy "jottalist" always screaming in 
disfavour of the contender: Oh, Mr. Darboe, why do you have to consult with 
your people? Ooh, why cannot you just accept OJ? Oh, Mr. Darboe why are you 
sending your lietenants to the meetings, and why don't you succumb to public 
pressure? Ooh, Mr. Darboe you are spoling the party"! From very early on, 
without any concrete reasons whatsoever, Pa Nderry Mbai has been 
consistently and disingenously representing Ousainou Darboe on this list as 
the man who should not be flagbearer.

The problem, however with supporters of OJ is that they have no respectable 
argument for not selecting Ousainou Darboe. That he had several chances 
against Jammeh in the past? Well, who has not? OJ? Sidia? Have they all 
forgotten that OJ and whatever remained of the PPP where all solidly behind 
Darboe and the UDP in managing the rickety coalition against the APRC in 
2001? Is the UDP anything more than an amalgam of old rivals from the PPP, 
ANC and GPP? Where was Ousainou Darboe when OJ was serving as minister in 
the PPP government? Well, carefully building his career as a lawyer, 
unperturbed by the excesses and shortcomings of the PPP government. Folks, 
there is no ideological difference whatsoever between the two.

Tomaa, like yourself, I would choose none of the two here for any reason 
other than acting on a belief of what choice I think would best serve the 
interest of NADD and the democratic opposition to the APRC. Even as a 
liberal Mr. Darboe strikes me as a man who is more comfortable with the kind 
of confrontation in a court room rather than leading a mass demonstration 
against injustcie. But my personal opinion about him is just that much 
irrelevant. This is the man who many thousands of Gambian, wisely or 
foolishly, voted for overwhelmingly in the past two elections.

And here lies the trouble with Dr. Saine's thinking: The nomination of 
flagbearer is about power, about identities, and therefore memories. In as 
much as we all cherish and respect the contents of the MOU, identities of 
politicians cannot just be simply hidden under a thick coat of varnish. 
Because the political parties that constitute NADD are still existing, any 
entry into negotiations by the leaders is charged with the relative 
electoral strengths of their said parties. It is simply futile to insist 
that MOU democracy means they should leave their shoes, their identities 
(that brought them there in the first place), and there memories at the 
door. It simply does not walk that way; and I suspect that the current 
impasse is revovling around the issue of Darboe suporting someone else's 
candidature. His calculation is simple: his political career will likely 
come to an end if someone else is selected.

On memory: how just and how democratic will the selection of a flagbearer be 
to the scores of thousands of suporters of lawyer Darboe should in case the 
exec comm chooses differently? That is a question I think we need to ask 
ourselves, especially given that we cannot easily rule out Mr. Jammeh and 
his propaganda arsenal.

Cheers,
sidibeh 

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