Halifa,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. If time proves me wrong, I
shall gladly apologise to whoever i owe an apology to, and you can count on
that.

I guess you can say that I am at a loss for any sensible reason  as to why
there is anything personal, philisophical orotherwise that would delay
forging a coalition when the election is just a couple of months away and in
view of  the critical situation we find ourselves in.
I do not think anyone is foolish enouhg to think that any of the political
parties will be giving up individual philosophies by  joining a united
opposition againt Jammeh. My point is that this is a temporary fix designed
to get us our of an ever worsening situation that could enmesh us in a
bloodbath and another 5 years of a regime whose record all of us know well.
All the political parties in The Gambia have endured 30 years of the Jawara
regime, and almost 7 years of Yaya Jammeh. For these parties to set aside
their differencies in philosophy for a moment and join hands to save us from
another 5 years of brutal oppression that knows no reason, and that will
eventually create an atmosphere where all will pursue their respective
agendas, is not something that should be guided by personal philosophies or
any other reasons,  but is to be treated as an emergnecy action and a last
resort.
In the final analysis, it is the country and the people who matter as you
rightly pointed, and therefore, all political parties must realize this
instead of embroiling in endless strategysing and defense of their individual
views and agendas, there will be ample time for such things if and when we
get rid of the monkey on our backs.

This, dear brother is my point, and I think it is abundantly clear that you
have done much work in our constitutional reforms etc, and can do even much
more during the tenure of a government that may not be ideal for you or some
of us, but during whose tenure fear and murder and mayhem will not be the
order of the day. Such an atmosphere is not  conducive to the reforms we hope
to put in place in our country one day.
Yes, we want a politically mature populace who can  be masters of our own
destiny one day, and therefore, we need to do all that is necesary to get rid
of those who kill, maim and silence any opinion otherwise there will be no
people left to enjoy this  golden period we are aiming for.
I guess i am playing the people's advocate, because we do need to remind the
politicians sometimes that they cannot see the forest for the trees.
However, as you said, if there is yet light at the end of this tunnel, it
will indeed be good news for the people, and i shall not hesitate to
apologize. I just hope whatever the position of PDOIS and Dibba turn out to
be, it does not take so long that it affects the planning that will render
any colaition effective.  This is an emergency situation, and the last thing
we need are long drawn out contemplations that may not serve the best
interest of the people in the long run.
Again, thanks or the response.

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 8/15/2001 5:24:44 AM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Jabou,
>           I am disappointed. I have always seen you as an independent
> minded Gambian sister who is after the truth. I would have thought that you
> would give your self-time to get all facts before you draw any conclusion.
> I promise you that when you get all the facts you will owe PDOIS an
> apology. Personally, I am in same position as you. I am not any body's
> presidential candidate. I don't think any body can say that I am waiting
> for Sidia Jatta to give me a ministerial post. I have bee offered such
> posts too many times to mention. I am not speaking for PDOIS at this
> moment. This is a personal intervention. The party is still studying all
> the facts in order to come up with a mature and respectable position. If I
> did not have respect for you as the only woman who spends day and night
> following events here, I would not have responded. This is no time to
> question our sincerity. This is the time for all of you to own your minds
> and seek to draw lessons from facts and not from fictions. It is abundantly
> clear to me that it is the people who change society and not the few  who
> claim, rightly or wrongly, to be their leaders. When the Gambian people are
> politically mature they will have mature leaders. My interest is similar to
> yours. None of us is a presidential aspirant. What each of us should want
> is Gambia to be led by people who will eradicate the ignorance, poverty and
> subjugation of our people. Do not condemn Dibba or any one. Find out  what
> all political leaders have to say and draw your enlightened conclusion
>
>
> Greetings
> Halifa
>

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