Message for UDP
Karamba Touray Calls on Opposition Leaders to Draw deep into their resevoir
of Selflessness and Patriotism to save the Country!


Significant worry has set in the hearts of many of us who support the
respective political parties opposed to the regime of Yahya
Jammeh.Individually and as civic minded groups, Gambians of all stripes have
tried to work towards a cohesive unified front that would offer our people a
clear alternative to a regime they instinctively know is not right for
them.Here in the US, like minded Gambians began working years ago begining
with late night telephone conversations and evolving to enthusiastic
gatherings such as the overflow crowd in an Atlanta meeting hall where
representatives of opposition political parties met an eager constituency
not dissimilar to the ones right there in The Gambia.

The bond between the frontline politicians present in that meeting and the
cross section of ordinary Gambians from across the US and Europe was
palpable . In the voices of the speakers and the eyes of the audience one
sensed a deep yearning for a Gambia that was led by selfless honorable men
anchored on democracy and the rule of law.

We had hoped to build on that air of optimism to execute a simple but
critical proposition which has at it's heart a grand coalition of all the
parties to effect regime change and establish a plural democracy that was
functional with the requisite institutions and checks and balances.Despite
the best efforts of a lot Gambians and non Gambian friends of our country,
we have simply failed to have all the opposition political parties sign on
to a straight forward arrangement.

I will not discuss any of the reasons advanced for the lack a united
opposition because in the main it really doesn't matter what the reasons
are. Considering the existential problems the nation faces at this
juncture,no reason is good enough to risk the fate of a people that have
already suffered enough under a regime whose failings are not up for
debate.A temporary arrangement to persuade a plurality of Gambian voters to
change course shouldn't take more than a weekend of meetings among the
handful of opposition parties whose prinicipal figures live in the same
metro area.

It is disheartening to us ordinary citizens that arranging simple face to
face meetings become arduos months long prodding and coaxing exercises with
uncertain outcomes. The net result has been costly and has precitipated a
significant enthusiacism gap and in some instances a real crisis of
confidence.

Each political party can rightly claim confidence in the validity of their
policy prescriptions for the nation or that theirs is superior to that of
the others and that the practice of democracy requires that those claims be
tested in the political arena and they will be right. But what is also true
is the fact that only regime change would bring about a competitive testing
of ideas since the agents of change themselves would be the contestants in
the vastly inproved democratic space they would have created. Therefore
investing in regime change by putting aside differences and fears would
deliver the democracy dividend that would benefit the Gambain people and by
extension the parties and people who seek to lead them.

What is clearly harmful to both the nation opposition political parties is a
divided slate of candidates running what would amount to quixotic campaigns
with a lot of their potential voters or supporters heartbroken, infuriated
or both. To pursue a strategy whose only outcome can be failure is not
worthy of great men who we know have and continue to sacrifice for the
Gambia and it's people.

I have had the honor of meeting all of our current opposition political
leaders and I have been impressed with their dedication to issues larger
than themselves. It is in this spirit that I ask each of them to draw deep
into their resevoir of selflessness , patriotism and the burden history has
placed on them as leaders when our nation acutely needs leadership to enter
into and swiftly conclude an all inclusive coalition and mobilise the nation
to chart a better future.

The Gambian people will support you and the new direction you lead
enthusiastically. What binds you is far greater than whatever divides you
and the great democracy you build by unifying would bequeath to the nation a
perpetual gift for succeeding generation of Gambians.

Karamba Touray

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*
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GOD BLESS THE GAMBIA.
LET US JOIN HANDS AND SUPPORT SHEIKH PROFESSOR DR. ALH YAHYA JAMMEH (NASIRU
DEEN) TO BUILD OUR COUNTRY. *

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