Tom,
   
  Such analysis is very good. If the oppoaition could mend fences before the National Assembly elections to strategise to ensure that they get more reps than the APRC, then Yahya and his cohorts could easily be made more accountable and even possibly impeached. The current weak-kneed majority of National Assembly is a mere rubber stamp to say the least.
   
  In my view, the need for such strategisation is what we should be putting into the leaderships of the opposition parties at this juncture as the finger pointing has certainly and will certainly take us no where in ensuring that we have a more responsible government with a much more needed humane face in The Gambia. As you indicated, the massive and unprecendented voter aparty can be said to be a vote against both the APRC and the Opposition collections. 
   
  Regards.
   
  Abdoulie Jawo
  University of Bradford
  UK

BambaLaye <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  The Significance of the Unsaid.
Abdoulie Jallow (BambaLaye)
September 25, 2006

Will someone whisper in Yaya Jammeh’s skunky ears to hold his horses for a
minute and reflect on the results of last weeks votes? There is no need
for Jammeh to be thumping here and there pounding his chest, throwing up
beach parties in the Holy Month of Ramadan in delusion of a clean sweep.
He should take a moment and reflect on the real results of the less than
democratic exercise of Friday September 22. Jammeh should pay heed to the
message sent by 59.94 percent of the eligible voters in The Gambia.

No, I am not talking about those who voted for him rather the 59.94
percent of the registered voters in The Gambia who have expressed their
lack of confidence in Jammeh and his coterie of prairie dogs for a
government.

Matter of fact according to reports of the IEC, only 392, 685 or 59.50
percent of the approximately 660,000 registered voters bothered to show up
and vote on September 22. This show 267,315 or 40.50 percent of those who
are eligible to vote did not show up mainly due to lack of confidence in
Jammeh and his outfit. Of those who bothered to come out and vote, 128,281
or 19.44 percent did not vote for him. Based on this analysis, it is
crystal clear 395,596 or 59.94 percent of the registered voters either
have no confidence in Jammeh and his outfit, were intimidated to not vote
at all, may have had their votes bought or a as a result of a combination
of all the above scenarios. Of those who may have not voted due to lack of
confidence would include those who may have arrived at that conclusion
after the break-up of the UDP and NRP from the NADD coalition.

Indubitably, Jammeh should take a hard look at these statistical facts and
reflect on the havoc he has wreaked on the Gambian people in the past
twelve years. Barely a week before the elections, I had a lengthy
conversation with an elderly person who confided in me that they and many
others of their age and status were literally scared to vote against Yaya
Jammeh because he had told them in his meetings that he can tell if they
do not vote for him and he can also tell if they refuse to vote at all. He
literally instilled an aura of mystical presence in the voting booth – a
third eye - so to speak. So, these folks were essentially voting for him
with a disheartened or fearful mindset as a result of the deliberate and
obvious coercion and intimidation.

Meanwhile, a word for the opposition candidates cannot be more than
enough. In as much as they have travailed hard and mighty, they ought to
also take a long and hard look at the writing on the wall and reflect on
what would have been. I was intermittently giggling and crying in my heart
today when I read a transcript of Ousainou Darboe’s response to the BBC
anchor’s question on the possibilities of winning Jammeh had they united
against him. The distinguished gentleman from Dobo said he didn’t think a
united opposition would have made a difference. For one, it is almost
funny that even at this daylight hour in the history of Gambia, Mr. Darboe
is still defensive of the horrendous error in judgment he made when he
withdrew UDP from NADD and it is so disheartening that he is clueless of
the message sent by the electorate. A word is more than enough.
The Gambian people have spoken alright; their message is loud and clear
for both Jammeh and the opposition. They have expressed lack of confidence
in the A(F)PRC regime by refusing to vote en mass. They have expressed
their frustration of the lack of unity of the opposition to junk the worst
thing that has ever happened to the people of Gambia – Yaya Jammeh and the
A(F)PRC. Jammeh will declare victory for the next five years while the
rest of the people will have to deal with another five years of poverty,
blatant disregard of their rights as human beings, state sanctioned public
mismanagement of resources – aka corruption; they will have to deal with
another five years of the disappearance, killings and maiming of dozens or
hundreds of their kith and kin; they will have to deal with another five
years of the reckless arrogance of a distrustful leader who puts no value
on the decency of a human being; they will have to deal with another five
years of the almost comical monstrosity of a burden on the head of every
Gambian – even the unborn. All this and more, they will have to deal with
for another five years.

The economically poor, the principally downtrodden, the emotionally
battered, the physically drained and politically robbed people of The
Gambia will have to endure another five years of misery not of their
making. This is no victory for Jammeh.


-- 
-BambaLaye
==============================================
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

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