Mr. Johnson,

That was a well written petition. I would however, like to put a different spin to it. I know this might not sit well with most of the list members especially the extreme opposition of President Jammeh's, but it would be the right thing to do. As a group that is very critical of Jammeh and his regime for not playing fair and treating Gambians right, it is only right that the invitation be extended to all the political parties in the country to participate in a trade show format. For the first time, we can get all of them in one neutral American City for a free, fair, safe and non-demonstration weekend. We can put each other to the challenge of attending and participating in the entire event. We can conduct a healthy debate between the parties and in the process; all of them can do their private fundraising and campaign within the Gambian community. It is important to give all of them a chance to present their ideas/strategies of how they can and will help our nation, which we can then comment on or suggest other great ideas. I think most of the party leaders have come to realize how important we in the Diaspora are, and the important part we will be playing come the Parliamentary elections.

With the above said, if your call is for the opposition only, then please disregard my message. I am just trying to make sure that we do not fall into the same category that the APRC is currently placed (baby steps like this is how most people/groups get started). This is just a simple suggestion that will also be a good way of getting Gambians together to discuss our nation's issues rather than just partying. We can question, debate, and exchange ideas as to how we can help rebuild our nation. You will agree with me that there are lots of brilliant people with great ideas that our country can use. What other way is better that doing it in a civilized manner?

My above suggestion however needs to best planned with a dedicated committee that will oversee the safety and proper representation of all the interested political parties and all the caring Gambians. To be good leaders of tomorrow, we need to establish good standards that we can live with. These good standards are what our younger brothers and sisters will perfect unlike the ones now being praticed.

Momodou Billo Krubally


_________________________________________________________

GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY; BECOMING WISE IS OPTIONAL.

__________________________________________________________


---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Find a job, post your resume on Yahoo! Careers.

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>