In a message dated 11/25/2001 10:22:35 AM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Regarding
> my views about the maneuverings of the last election, they are mine and
> mine
> alone, and I respect your difference to them.  You asked thus, "What
> stopped
> the voters from endorsing Dibba, Jatta, or Bah if the UDP's rejection was
> as
> a result of their association with the PPP?"  In my opinion, it was a
> matter
> of perception.  Everyone perceived the UDP as the largest opposition party
> and it was doing well up to days before the unbanning of the PPP.  The only
> thing that Jammeh was hauling at the UDP was that it was a party of drunks,
> and that was not sticking.  No sooner than the PPP arrive at the scene,
> then
> Jammeh forgot about Darboe, Juwara (to a lesser extent), et al and focused
> on the PPP folks.  In his tirades about the PPP record, he even used his
> own
> PPP turn APRC servant, Buba Baldeh and to a lesser extent Juwara, a former
> PPP turn UDP to bolster his rhetoric about the era of do nothing.  PPP in
> turn could not convincingly refute Jammeh's volleys.  All they kept saying
> was that the projects Jammeh was showcasing are projects they started or
> was
> in their pipeline.  This was not enough, especially if you had 30 years to
> do it.  Thus the link in the people's mind of the perceived relationship
> between the PPP and the UDP, with the former perceived as using the latter
> as a stepping stone.  Jammeh could not say anything about Darboe's record
> as
> a lawyer, or Sidia's record as an MP, or Hamat Bah's.  But which record did
> he use over and over again?  The PPP's, even though the PPP represented a
> third of the limited coalition and among the newest entrants in the
> campaign, officially. So, if the coalition were composed of untainted
> leaders, there is nothing Jammeh could have used against them that those
> who
> sat on the fence would buy.  This mistake, coupled with the inducements,
> tribalism, and voter registration fraud, etc., that you eloquently stated
> are what gave Jammeh another five years.  There were many variables that
> gave him victory and in my opinion, the biggest was they PPP record, which
> I
> know you and many others disagree with, and that's ok.
>
> The moral of this exchange is that, if the PPP is in the mix again, the
> majority of the electorate would prove us wrong again and give an
> overwhelming majority of the house to the APRC.  The PPP is an unnecessary
> baggage that the opposition don't need at this time.  This may not be a
> popular statement to some on this list, but I strongly believe that

******************
Joe Sambou,

Thank you. This is the crux of the matter in a nutshell, and what enemies
some of us made by stating this truth, but it is nevertheless the truth, and
if one is strategysing, one better use the right formula or you have no one
else to blame. What was required in these past elections was less selfishness
and more cooperation to achieve the gola of removing Jammeh even if it meant
making concessions that people would not ordinarily make. As I said many
times in the days prior to the elections, it was an emegency situation that
called for emergency measures. I alwsy ask myself that if the opposition
parties were not willing or did not posses the diplomacy tools to forge an
allinace in such a critical time, then can we actually have faith in their
abiolity to solve more serious and delicate situations that require the same
skills should such a situation arise during any of  these parties' tenure in
government were they to win an election? The people's business was not first
priority here and that is the bottom line no matter who dislikes hearing
that.
It is time to forge a new strategy, but is it not too late?
I have largely stayed away from the discussion of strategy regarding the
Parliamentary elections because with Jammeh in power, it is likely that no
matter who wins seats in the upcoming elections, he can and will overule the
constitution everythime ot do whatever he wants as has been the case for the
past 7 years.

Jabou Joh

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