Mr. Gai:

Your message of refraining from tribal identification
is indeed a stance you must continue to preach.  Tribal
politics has no basis in The Gambia, especially when
the opposition has a lot at stake.  No single opposition
party can claim to have the soul right of flushing out
The Gambian dictator.  We must collectively join hands
in this far-reaching endeavor.

I hope I am not mistaken, but I want to welcome you to
this fold.  Our struggle to unseat the dictator of kaninlai
can materialize when people like you are willing to
denounce tribal politics.  We must understand that there
is no single Gambian who can claim to be 100% one tribe.
Our tribal identification and our desire of belonging
to a specific tribe have caused much unwarranted
disunity.  Some politicians may claim to be anti-tribe,
but deep down in their hearts, they are bent on carrying
an evil message of promoting one tribe.

I wholeheartedly cannot endorse a political party that
dances around the subject of tribalism.  It is paramount
that we hear from our opposition leaders on this
sensitive subject.

I hope my open letter on tribalism and other important
issues will be replied to.  Until then, we must continue
to demand positions that each opposition party intends
to take of being the servants of The Gambian people.  We
must not give them blanket support.

Naphiyo,

Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
------Original Message------
From: "Gai, M" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: June 6, 2001 6:10:58 AM GMT
Subject: Re: UDP Meeting in New York City


Hamadi,
Yes your posting was long but very factual.
To add to your analysis, we should recognize that the opposition parties are
trying to vote out an incumbent - something that can be very challenging
particularly in Africa where voter education is so low as to be nonexistent.
The meetings I attended in New York reveals a lot -- the opposition parties
do have a lot of differences and unless these differences are worked,
strategies defined and agendas unified another five year term is almost in
the offing for the incumbent.

I was thinking the opposition leaders trip to the US was one aimed at
1) Identifying strategies to be implemented in the coming parliamentary and
      Presidential elections.
2) Discussing their various political agendas, solidifying on the common
areas and modifying area(s) of differences in the pursuit of their political
objectives and
3) Formulate a last resort strategy, in the form of a collision, should the

     incumbent prove stubborn.

The New York meeting was troubling and calls for a lot of unification efforts
amongst ourselves. It is true that we belong to various tribes to which we
should all be proud of but we should not allow our tribal demarcations to
interfere with our political issues. Let us always remember, The Gambia is
one people one nation. We can surely do a lot better when we stick together
and virtually nothing when we are apart.

Gai

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