Thanks to the Independent.  Folks, not long ago, I had told this list that
the opposition has an ally n the fight to remove Jammeh from office - APRC
supporters.  The devaluasion of the Dalasi affects them too.  So, does the
massive unemployment; hunger and poverty, etc.  The APRC cannot tell their
hungry supporters that they (the supporters) are not hungry.  Please read
on.

Jammeh Should Step Down, Ex-APRC Youth Leader Demands

The Independent (Banjul)

May 16, 2003
Posted to the web May 16, 2003

Sheikh Al-Kinky Sanyang
Banjul

A former youth leader for the ruling APRC in Bundung has demanded President
Jammeh's resignation because he has brought more hardship than reprieve to
the Gambian people during his nine year rule.

Muhammed Lamin Marr who called on the youths who are the backbone of
Jammeh's re-election success not to repeat the grave mistake of reelecting
him, said the current regime is a sterile government incapable of changing
the fortune of Gambians. Mr. Marr who was a staunch supporter of the ruling
party and had previously mobilized many youths to the APRC camp argued that
Jammeh's re-election in October 2001 was a grave mistake for which Gambians
are paying the severest price.


Describing his former party as undemocratic, non-transparent and
unaccountable Muhammed Lamin Marr posited that Jammeh and the APRC have
betrayed Gambians by not keeping up to their promises of improving living
conditions. He said the economic doldrums Gambians are living under is a
compelling case for Jammeh to resign and allow a more effective and
serious-minded regime to take over. He criticized the president to desist
from lavish spending on festivals in Kanilai and other unwarranted
ceremonies, but rather to spend on socio-economic development projects for
the poor. The former APRC die-hard who had promised to commit suicide if
President Jammeh hadn't won the election said he has regretted all those
actions and warned the youths to discard the party before they realise the
mistake belatedly.

"This is why the president has now based his political hopes on Gambian
women, because he knows he can never again fool men into voting for him" he
said. Marr vowed that the APRC would never sweep the polls, as the youths
will not allow the strategy used to overcome the oppositions, in the
previous elections.

He however, reminded the president that Gambian women would rather listen to
their husbands, uncles, and brothers than answer to his empty taunts.

The depreciation of the Dalasi, the rise in the level of youth unemployment,
and sky-rocketing prices of basic commodities he said were the reasons,
which compelled him and his followers to quit the APRC.

Marr stopped short of disclosing which party they were joining after
quitting the ruling party.

He said the oppositions should be commended for painstakingly resisting what
he described as "the Jammeh dictatorship" .

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