Thanks brother Musa for your nice gesture as well as the mature ideas you have dribbled on this forgotten important issue that should once more be flourishing in all Gambian forums to try to find ways and means to creating a viable or try to build some understanding within the opposition parties back home. 

I believe as well that, without a viable and strong opposition there will never be a good government hence no one will be there to challenge them on real issues effecting the country. I am sure this unity can never be functional without the help of the diaspora as it has once proved to be. One thing hard to remedy in the life of Africa is the fact that nothing can be done positively without the intervention of the west or the people of their descendant residing abroad which is so sad. I know I haven't had the financial or intellectual power but a lousy comment to people who have these combination.

Then again, that what cannot be helped, must be enjoyed. However creating a viable opposition should not be term as hatred but building a better atmosphere for the benefit of all. Besides, nothing will go right in this world on the absence of opposition. "If" Saitan is opposing God who are we to reject opposition to our reign? I am very much in for unity and diplomatic approaches to issues without insults or hatreds no matter how bad things are within. Once more I salute you Brother Musa on this tireless effort you have been putting on this issue.
Edi

--- On Sun, 23/11/08, Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Response to OJ's clarion call
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Sunday, 23 November, 2008, 8:57 PM

#yiv1118188406 p {margin:0;}In the absence of an objective political analysis of the  problems confronting the opposition, we will definitely be  back here come 2011 after a landslide victory by the APRC with the same blame game and a whole lots of Monday morning quarter backing. It is important to retrace the footprints of the opposition since the 1994 coup which ushered in the APRC political domination. After the coup brought them to power, the AFPRC made strategic moves to transform from military officers to civilian politicians, which eventually led to their rise to power. To help with this transformation, they banned all the political parties that would pose a threat to their ascendancy to power. The main political parties then, the PPP and the NCP were banned including all the political heavyweights associated with these parties. The opposition’s reaction to this new political chess board was equally effective under the circumstances. A
 new political party was formed – the UDP, which became the default party or was seen as the party that the supporters of the PPP and the NCP were welcomed. The leadership slot became equally important for this newly formed party as well, and reached out to a successful lawyer, Ousainou Darboe who was not in anyway tainted by the corruption and incompetence leveled against the PPP status quo or the political environment of the past. It was indeed a brilliant political move, and right away the UDP became the main opposition power to counter the new APRC power base. The leader of the UDP – lawyer Darboe became the alternative to the newly formed APRC under YayaJammeh, and looking back it was without a doubt the best strategy adopted by the opposition to counter to the APRC jockeying for political monopoly. 
  
Obviously, 1994   coup was welcomed by majority of Gambians because people lost confidence in the Jawara leadership that they have known since independence. The newly formed APRC party under a perceived dynamic leader exploited people’s disgust with the Jawara regime, and was able to give people hope for the future. In addition,  The APRC was able to convinced majority of Gambians that the newly formed UDP was nothing more than and old wine in a new bottle, and the very people that have been responsible for the poverty and misery are yet again trying to bamboozle us. Not leaving anything to chance, the AFPRC used their incumbency status and the power of military intimidation to make sure that the electoral terrain favors them in all aspects. In 1996 the APRC was elected as the new government of the second republic.
  
Five years later the opposition saw that maybe after five years of the APRC, people have seen the realities to whatever expectation they have had and would look for a new way forward. This was also the first time the concept of a coalition was seriously discussed among the parties in the Gambia . Back then it was the same man OJ Jallow who championed it and threw his support to Lawyer Darboe. An opposition meeting was convened to discuss and select a leader for the coalition of parties. For OJ and the PPP old guard, they believed that Ousanou would be the right leader. Interestingly, the leader of the NCP also believed that this was his time especially when the NCP has been the major opposition party for years. Ousainou was chosen; SM Dibba walked out of the meeting and chose to contest the elections under the NCP banner. During the political jockeying, another miscalculation was made by the players that a coalition of the major parties which then meant
 having the PPP players, some of the NCP players and the UDP can be the answer to defeat the APRC. The other parties, NRP and PDOIS were reached out to somewhat, but the new coalition was not willing to make the political compromise especially when these parties did not have the political successes to show for. Again, the new coalition received their second defeat to the APRC.
  
This was yet again another defeat for the opposition, but the concept of coalition of parties, somehow at home and most importantly in the Diaspora was seen that if it is done right it may be a viable solution to bring an end to the APRC domination.
To get ready for the 2006 general elections, for the first time Gambians in the Diaspora played a crucial role in the formation of a coalition of all parties. A new coalition party NADD was borne; it started out as the best hope for the opposition by winning bi-elections and posed a serious political threat to the APRC. With this new threat, the APRC responded by amending the constitution doing away with second balloting, very concerned with the coalition challenge and not sure whether they can win more than 50% in the first go around. Of course the new hope turned out to be the worst disappointment in the country’s political history, and the worst defeat for the opposition.  Folks, this is where we are. The past has given us a guideline, a reality check to the failures of the opposition and that the same old intransigence, hunkering down to the same old positions will ever be able to shake the Jammeh status quo. There is a need for a fundamental
 paradigm shift in our quest for an effective way to rebuild a competitive and effective opposition.
  
The political reality is that the opposition parties are in the worst position they have ever been in, and majority of Gambians do not believe that they even have what it takes to defeat Jammeh. In fact, some Gambians do not even believe that they are any different from the APRC, all you have to do is to just look at the structures of their own parties and how they are run. There is a need for something different, and that the old script does not have a chance to bring the kind of enthusiasm to defeat Jammeh or to be competitive in anyway. It is a fact that a coalition of all the parties will have to be the foundation of any realistic scenario. All the political leaders of the opposition parties have to completely bury whatever differences thy have and embraced a new way forward. They have to start fighting now, not only during elections for the rights of all Gambians especially the minority voice. It is really very telling to only surface during
 elections, clearly an indication that they are only interested in replacing Jammeh and not real change.  Finally, this new reality will have to come with a new and different leader. He or she could come from the ranks of the parties, but there is a need for a new Messiah, a young strong leader who will come out and take Jammeh head on. People need someone who would give them a reason to come out and vote against Jammeh without fear; a leader that the entire opposition parties fully support and willing to fight with.  As a friend suggested, I wish we could have a leader come up through the ranks of the UDP, NADD or NRP with a total support of all the parties. People need new hope, a young leader who can reach out to the leaders of the other parties; a new leader who can give supporters in the Diaspora and home a reason to hope and a will to fight. There is a need to exploit the same strategy of the coalition of parties, but with a new dynamic leader
 who is ready to fight a different fight.
  
It is a indeed a fact that the Diaspora does play a crucial in events in the Gambia, and we should take this role responsibly and do what is right to bring peace prosperity and hope for a democratic Gambia,  notwithstanding our differences. At least, the general consensus is that there is a need to bring an end to the Jammeh regime which has denied and stifled the rights of all Gambians. Now, we have to think and come up with something outside of the box.
  
Thanks
Musa Jeng
 
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤




¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤