Lasana, thanks for your post and I am sorry for my late reply as I was
consumed with telling Ebou Jallow and his supporters how big a thief he is.
Anyway, I agree with you that the mood of the electorate did not reflect the
election results and there was cheating with the help of the IEC and there
were Senegalese nationals that voted for Jammeh.  However, historically, the
Gambian electorate is two faced, especially when a little money is sprinkled
around.  If anything, the voters in the Urban areas should know better, but
what did they do?  The majority that voted in the biggest districts in the
country voted for Jammeh with all the suffering they are going through and
will continue to endure.  I'm talking about the Banjuls, Serekundas, Western
Division, etc.  The Gambian electorate is known for saying one thing and
voting the other direction.

On a personal note, I think the election was a referendum on the PPP as
opposed to people liking Jammeh.  For one, most of the APRC support base
were once card carrying members of the PPP.  Believing that if the tide
should change in favor of the coalition they would suffer the wrath of the
PPP, they chose to follow their instincts and stay with Yaya.  Prior to the
unbanning of the PPP, the UDP was suffering from a perception problem, but
Jammeh was unable throw anything at them that would stick.  A lot of people
believed right/wrong that the UDP was a front for the PPP.  So, by the PPP
coming and endorsing Darboe and NCP bolting out, and PDOIS and NRP saying
that they were sidelined, all the pieces of the puzzle were gotten for most
that sat on the fence (right or wrong).  I firmly believe that had the PPP
and GPP bypassed this election and the UDP joined forces with PDOIS and NRP,
Yaya would not have had a weapon against that coalition, for all the leaders
in each party walked on the straight and narrow.  But, when you have a PPP
in the mix and people lived with them for 30 years with nothing to show for
it, it is easy for Yaya to turn the people against the coalition.
Therefore, the Hunchback of Notre Dame in the elections was the PPP.  They
carry a baggage that Yaya could compare to his record.  Remember, the PPP
might not have killed anybody, but a lot of people were marginalized at the
expense of a very few.  I believe in group effort which is why I did not
vocalize my thoughts prior to the elections.  It would have been damaging to
the Election fund if I were to be perceived of being critical about the
affiliation between the PPP and the UDP.  And having Mr. Dampha and his
chainsaw was a turn-off to most folks on the list.  I believe that it is to
the best interest of the UDP to distance themselves from the PPP if they are
to turn the tide around.  The PPP is a spent force and frankly a dead weight
that the UDP is going to carry around unnecessarily.

I also believe that the UDP has more in common with PDOIS and NRP, than with
PPP.  Sheriff Dibba's problem was that of big ego.  He was silent all
throughout the reign of terror, but yet still thinks he earned the right to
lead.  But, had PDOIS and NRP participated in the negotiations, Dibba would
not have been that bold to filibuster and the PPP would not have abled to
hijack the sittings.  I also believe the PPP did not want PDOIS and NRP
around because they would have limited their (PPP) influence on the process
and the PPP knew that.  Dibba's flawed reasoning is that he perceived the
PPP as using the UDP as a stepping stool to reaching the fruits, ideas he
sensed from the population at large.  This is getting longer than I intended
so, I will just stop here for now. Last question, do you happen to know what
the UDP think about our proposed tactical alliance?  Please let me know your
thoughts on the points I raised.

Thanks

Joe


>From: Lasana Jorbateh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: UDP Complaints
>Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 21:24:01 EST
>
>Joe Sambou
>I was in the Gambia during the october 18th. presidential elections and had
>the oppurtunity of travelling all around the country with UDP led
>coalition's
>campaign team. The fact is, the mood of the Gambian electorate at the time
>does not reflect the result of the election in any way. We all advocated
>for
>a coalition of all opposition parties, but even if that was the case,
>AFPRC/APRC is still the winner. From what I saw, I strongly believe in the
>oppotision claim that something seriously abnomal  have taken place. The
>result of the election was the opposite of what The Gambian people
>expected.
>Though it would be difficult to come up with proves but the fact that some
>crooked games were instituted by the incumbent was public knowledge.
>Why was the total number of voters in Niani constituency more than the
>total
>number of regigtered voters? Why were Senegalese nationals found with
>Gambian
>voters' cards? Why were opposition supporters short and killed by soldiers
>just a day before the elections with impunity? Why did the APRC turgs
>frequently assault opposition supporters in the presence of security forces
>and prevent them from holding their meetings with inpunity? With all the
>artrocities been committed by APRC supporters how many of them were
>arrested?
>NONE! All those arrested during and after the elections were members of the
>UDP led coalition and nobody else.
>Dsepite conceding defeat, The UDP led coalition had a genuin cause to
>complain.
>
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