Honestly, the president should have better things to do than to be
campaigning to win another sit in parliament, after all he has the mandate
with a clear majority. One would have expected that with so many pressing
issues to address he would be focused on the fundamentals, but unfortunately
it is becoming increasingly apparent that he is pursuing an agenda to make
the country a de-facto one party state.

With so many resolved Gambians both at home and abroad this will be opposed
tooth and nail. To exploit the ignorance of the people is the limit of
political opportunism. I hope those who are objective enough and work
closely with Jammeh will advice against such a notorious agenda, it is an
agenda that if allowed to materialise will only create problems for the
people. This effectively would give the APRC a free hand to do as they wish.
They would be in a position to manipulate and change the rules of the game
willy-nilly and I cannot forsee how that would serve the intrest of the
Gambian people, if anything it would retard the evolution of our young
democracy, that we are all trying to nurture to have a more representative
forum.

The consequencies of such autocratic schemes have far reaching ramifications
beyond the confines of our terretorial inergrity. After all we live in a
global village in which there are many intrest groups, so the attempt to
subvert the efforts to create a greater democracy will certainly attract a
lot of interest from many quarters and it will not be amusing to democrats
around the world if Gambia boast of having a monopoly parliament, a
parliament in which things can just be rolled through without even the
courtesy to tell the opposition.

I think it is enough for the rhetoric, we have been lectured by some NAM
that this was going to be a parliament with a difference, if that is the
case it better be a difference with good intentions. People are now tired of
listening to sweet talk with no concrete delivery, it is not suffice to make
beautiful catch phrases only to undermine people's power from behind. It
should be noted that there are many people albeit not in the ASSEMBLY, they
are opening their eyes and ears to what is being crafted in the house and
anything untoward would be sounded to alert the world. Gambia is heading
towards a direction where people must not wink for this regime has a
tendency to baffle people using pan african and revolutionary rhetoric.  We
must join hands and effort to ensure that A ONE PARTY STATE DOES NOT COME TO
EXIST.

I hope all those functionaires, instead of going on a campaign trail will
get back to work and serve the nation.


>From: malik kah <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: HALIFA MAKING IMPACT IN THE HOUSE
>Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 22:02:04 +0000
>
>FOROYAA    Issue No.2/2002    15 – 20 January, 2002
>
>Editorial
>The President And The National Assembly
>
>The announcement of a presidential tour to campaign for APRC candidates
>came
>as a surprise to many since the APRC now has 33 seats in the National
>Assembly as a result of a late UDP and coalition boycott. The APRC has
>majority to pass any bill other than one to amend the constitution which
>requires three quarters majority. The president  is to nominate five
>members
>  of the National Assembly one of whom will be the speaker of the National
>Assembly. Before the amendment  of  the constitution he could nominate
>four.
>It has now increased to five. It is heading closer to the maximum of eight
>provided for in the 1970 constitution. It means that the APRC has 37 seats
>out of a total number of 52 seats excluding the Speaker. This is two seats
>short of the three quarters majority.  With  two more seats it could amend
>any section of the constitution  which is not an entrenched provision
>without consulting any representative on the other side. This is not  ideal
>for a country  which wishes  to have effective checks on how it is
>governed. This is  why  it was so easy to amend the provisions for the
>election of Chiefs in the 1997 constitution.
>
>It goes without saying that the members of other parties however did take
>up
>controversial issues and expressed opinions that earned the respect of the
>public. There is no doubt  that this gave rise to  the wave that led to the
>rejection of many NAtional Assembly members of the APRC during their
>nomination as candidates for the coming National Assembly elections.
>
>To have dissenting voices in the National Assembly therefore is as
>important
>as having a majority to make decisions. Such voices  keep the nation
>informed of  what  is wrong and help the people to take stock of the
>strengths and weaknesses of a government  when it comes to the end of its
>mandate.
>
>On the other hand such voices  keep the government on its toes so that it
>will be alert to its shortcomings. In our view, if the president campaigns
>for a National Assembly without representation for other political parties
>he would be campaigning for a de facto one party legislature and executive.
>This would expose an inclination towards a monarchical system. It is also
>important to add that any coverage by the Radio and TV of   the campaign
>trail of  the president  would bring complication for the IEC. The IEC and
>GRTS have already agreed on the time to be allocated to the respective
>political parties. To give coverage to the president’s entourage would have
>required the allocation of more time to other parties.
>
>Once the president goes on the campaign trail the voters should in fact
>increase their  vigilance. A government  which want s to be completely free
>from scrutiny  is a government  not  worth trusting. It is in the public
>interest to have men and  women of integrity, knowledge and maturity in the
>National Assembly irrespective of party affiliation.
>
>The voters in the coming National Assembly should concentrate on the
>qualities of the candidates and not party affiliations. This is the way
>forward.
>
>
>
>The Burden Of Taxation
>As the government faces a narrow tax base it is intensifying its squeeze on
>different sectorts in order  to raise more funds.
>
>For example, the admission rate for legal practitioners has been raised
>from
>D787.50 to D,1,500. The admission rate for Notaries Public is increased
>from
>D157.50 to D250. Charges for Memorandum of Association, memorandum of
>deposits, Memorandum of Agreement, Articles of Association, Affidavit,
>Civil
>Appeal and Form of Authorrisation have increased from D10 to D100 dalasis,
>Bond for the payment of any sum not exceeding D100 has been increased from
>D10 to D100. Every additional increase of D125 would mean increase in
>charges from D2.63 to D50. Increase in charges will affect mortgages  which
>moved from the current rates of 1.05% to 5%, conveyance, contract and
>partnership agreements, Bill of Sales, Bill of lading, Bill of exchange and
>deeds.
>
>This indicates that fees  for clients are going to increase as the cost of
>the charges are transferred to them. Duties on goods, tax  on sales and
>service charges are always passed onto the clients and customers as
>indirect
>taxation or charges.
>
>Without the expansion of the productive base of the economy. government
>revenue can only be raised through the scraping of the back of the average
>Gambian through higher taxation and charges. This does not  lead to the
>reduction of  poverty. On the contrary, it provokes its escalation.
>
>
>
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