Dear Freedom Press,waking up this morning to read one of your lead article 
on the recent by elections in Kombo East makes me wonder if we will ever 
come to recognize the political maturity of ordinary Gambians.Once again it 
is the ordinary Gambian masses who are accused of not being prepared for a 
change of government and thus the results.
However such conclusions are always easy to make.The poverty and suffering 
of the Gambian masses ,if it is anything to go by,your conclusion that 
"Political change can only take place if the opposition set aside greed, 
love for power and personal aggrandizement" is still not an answer to this 
sorry state of our people and country.It is not only political change our 
people need,how do we expect such politicians in power to make any 
difference in the life of ordinary people ?
You did make mention of countries where the oppositions for one moment,put 
aside their differences and " greed,love for power and personal 
aggrandizement"  to win an election,true,but name me one country where this 
has happened and resulted in the advancement of the living conditions of 
ordinary people,not in Senegal,not in Kenya,not in Ghana etc,etc.Politicians 
dont unite for the sake of the suffering of people,this is what history is 
teaching us,they do so to conquer political power.What I later realised by 
talking to ordinary Gambians is that, they know this more than I do and even 
before i arrived to this conclusion.It  makes me respect their political 
maturity much more than ever before.Who have ever consulted them as to who 
they want to lead a political alliance of oppositions parties in the Gambia 
?

For Freedom
Saiks


>From: panderry mbai <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [>-<] Gambians not reay for change yet-Opposition leaders failed 
>the electorates again!!!
>Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 11:37:27 +0100 (BST)
>
>                                   Gambians not reay for change 
>yet-Opposition leaders failed the electorates again!!!
>   It is now clear that The Gambian voters are not ready for change of 
>political leadership. The Kombo East by election defeat is a clear 
>indication that our people are still lacking behind when it comes to 
>political change. Our disintegrated opposition are partly responsible for 
>the current predicament Gambians are exposed to today. Under the current 
>political atmosphere the opposition cannot win incumbent President Jammeh 
>and his failed APRC. We said it here and we will repeat once again. 
>Political change can only take place if the opposition set aside greed, 
>love for power and personal aggrandizement. As long as they are not 
>prepared to bury their past differences, Jammeh will continue to rule our 
>country with impunity.
>
>   FREEDOM NEWSPAPER, MANAGING EDITOR PA NDERRY M'BAI SAYS "GREED AND LOVE 
>FOR POWER" CONTRIBUTED TO THE OPPOSITION FAILURES IN THE GAMBIA!!!
>   Many people believed that our opposition are out their only to 
>legitimize the political process, but in reality they are not certain of 
>winning an election. This might sounds like a serious charge, whether 
>admitted or not, but many people hold such a view. We still cannot fathom 
>the rationale behind the NADD breakaway. None of these parties can do 
>better in the absence of the other.
>   In short and plain language, opposition parties need each other’s 
>support. None of these parties can stand on its own. They need to 
>compliment each other’s efforts to send Jammeh packing. This is crucially 
>imperative if they want to make any significant achievement in their bid to 
>unseat Jammeh.
>   Adding the UDP/NRP and NADD votes together, the APRC was bound to be 
>declared the loser. But this could not happen due to the opposition 
>disintegration. It is time for the opposition to embark on a stock taking 
>and address this serious lapse of electoral weakness. In the absence of 
>unified opposition, means engaging in a “useless political venture.” There 
>is no way that these parties can single “handedly” defeat Jammeh. The 
>opposition must stop the false pretense and call a spade a spade. This is 
>not the time for false pretense. Our political leaders should put people’s 
>interest ahead of personal interest.
>   The APRC should jubilate with caution. The Kombo East results is a cause 
>for Jammeh and his party. Its not in your favour at all. If the APRC had 
>won 80 percent of the votes then they have good cause for jubilation. But 
>in the absence of this, we say hold your horse Jammeh supporters. The 
>reunion of the opposition means the end of Jammeh. Jammeh will always loved 
>to see the opposition divided. A united opposition is not in his favour.
>   Now that the opposition have lost, they will begin to see what Pa Nderry 
>and other critics have been pointing out to them. From the onset we knew 
>that the breakingaway was a political suicide on the side of the 
>opposition. The opposition should do away with the habit of underestimating 
>the APRC. Removing an incumbent is not easy thing as they take it to be. It 
>requires collective and concerted efforts to send such political monsters 
>packing.
>   The Gambian opposition is not yet prepared for change. It is unfair for 
>one to blame voters when the key players are guilty of betraying their 
>followers. None of these opposition leaders can tell you anything sensible 
>about their lack of coming together. This culture of self-centered politics 
>should stop. We all cannot lead. One must lead and the others followed.
>   It is time for our divided opposition to draw lessons from other African 
>countries, where their colleagues registered a success story in the name of 
>opposition merger. Neighboring Senegal and Ghana are classical examples. 
>The opposition in these countries had different political beliefs and 
>policies but notwithstanding, they were able to come together to end “one 
>man” leadership in Africa. Not that they do not wanted to rule, but they 
>put “nationalism” ahead of personal interest. This is what we expect from 
>our so called political leaders in The Gambia. Anything short of this, will 
>be unacceptable to the poor voters.
>   Along the line, party leaders are bound to experience differences, but 
>this should not shift or divert them from their agreed quest to effect 
>political change. Lack of political sincerity and respect for the wishes of 
>the populace often leads to the demise of such opposition mergers. Little 
>did such political leaders knows that such disintegration contributes to a 
>full blown dictatorship.
>   Tiny Gambia, is today faced by such a political nightmare. Our 
>opposition leaders have created a political precedent that gives Jammeh and 
>his party to rule The Gambia, as long as they wanted. This is indeed sad. 
>Our electorates are being denied change because of few self-centered 
>politicians. This is the betrayal of the century. The Gambian people 
>deserves better. We rest our case.
>
>
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>
>Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 (Archive on Tuesday, May 30, 2006)
>Posted by PANDERRYMBAI  Contributed by PANDERRYMBAI
>     Return
>         Rating:           [input] 1   [input] 2   [input] 3   [input] 4   
>[input] 5    Comments:      Save
>---------------------------------
>           Current Rating:  2.83                        Rating:   3    
>please sort your self before its too late            Rating:   2            
>     Rating:   5    I do share the same sentiments with you my dearest 
>brother.Thanks for a great coverage and keep it up.            Rating:   3  
>               Rating:   3    A very good piece Nderry. Let the APRC dogs 
>lie down            Rating:   1    shut up you idiot pa, you dontknow 
>nothing you are so desperate
>
>
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