Folks:
Please find below an important piece of the puzzle behind the Pa Nderry
(un)reports and what seems to be the real attempts at behind the scene
manipulations of the genuine efforts in restoring democracy and social
justice in The Gambia. Well, here you have it....make your own judgement
folks. As the saying goes "when a blind man tells you he's going to throw
a stone at you, be sure that he has his foot on one."

This is culled from the STGDP site at www.sunugambia.com
<<http://www.sunugambia.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=468>>

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This is not the Time for Darboe to Break-away Under a UDP- banner

The ongoing political furor over Omar Jallow’s (OJ) selection as the
presidential candidate for the 2006 presidential elections and not
Ousainou Darboe by NADD’s Executive can not be contested on grounds of
OJ’s electability. This is a flawed argument that undermines the very
democratic process that the Mou sought to engender and agreed to by all
parties. Flawed as the Mou is, Darboe and all the presidential-candidate
aspirants accepted the ground rules heading into the meeting that selected
OJ. To use arguments based on previous election results or the UDP being
the single largest opposition political party has little or no relevance
to the decision already rendered by NADD’s executive. Why must the rules
now be contested or changed just because Darboe was not favored? Why must
we second-guess the process and the thinking behind each executive
member’s decision?

If the truth be told, Darboe has no choice but to support the process that
selected OJ, regardless of his reservations about the process itself or
possibly the candidate, if any. If Darboe had been selected, I would have
defended and supported his candidature despite what OJ or anyone else may
say. To do otherwise would be sheer hypocrisy. To date, the Mou remains
the best document for the current coalition. It took months of tedious
negotiations to arrive at its painstaking details.

Furthermore, Darboe tried in 1996 and 2001 and could not dislodge Jammeh.
It is time for another candidate to give it a try. This is partly because
the political landscapes of 2001 and 2006 are very different and the
latter may require a different strategy and candidate. In my humble
opinion, Darboe’s professional and personal temperament may not be suited
to counter Jammeh’s brutish threats and venomous attacks. His personal and
professional skills would serve The Gambia best, in my view, in a
post-Jammeh ear in 2011 as a presidential candidate and possibly
president. What is needed now is someone like OJ to confront Jammeh
head-on as decided by NADD’s Executive, in spite of the reservations
others or I may have about his candidature. And, like many of you, I
harbor many.

Therefore, the issue of OJ’s political baggage can not be overlooked, nor
anyone’s for that matter. He served the PPP for well over a decade as
parliamentary secretary and minister. Yet, unlike most of his other PPP
colleagues after the coup, he has been unflinching in his opposition to
Jammeh and has paid dearly for it; so has Ousainou, Halifa, Waa and the
other leaders who also have their own limitations. If Ousainou were chosen
the issue of baggage would inevitably come up as well. This is not the
time, nor the place, however, to spell out Ousainou’s or OJ’s.

Additionally, this is not the time for Darboe to break away under a UDP
banner to contest the presidency as it could aid Jammeh in his re-election
bid. If Darboe is truly committed to ridding the country of Jammeh, which
I believe he does, he must forego his short-term interests and putative
gains as a presidential candidate in 2006 for the larger national good.
After all, NADD’s Executive chose OJ cognizant of Darboe’s standing as
head of the largest opposition party.

I humbly urge Darboe, the UDP Executive, advisors and supporters to rally
behind OJ as he was duly selected by NADD’s Executive. To do less is to
subvert the very democratic process they all claim to uphold and wish to
see in a post-Jammeh era. If NADD unravels into its constituent political
parties so could the effort to oust Jammeh. Another five years of Jammeh,
possibly ten is too painful to ponder.


Abdoulaye Saine
Hamilton, Ohio, USA
=========================
Dr. Saine,
You said this "I humbly urge Darboe, the UDP Executive, advisors and
supporters to rally behind OJ as he was duly selected by NADD’s
Executive." Can you please tell us how was OJ duly elected by NADD
executives. Did they go from nomination to actually voting to select a
flagbearer among the contestants? If yes, when? I await your response.
Thank you. Take care.

Banka.
=========================
Dr.Saine,
I am glad that you finally could not any longer conceive it deep in your
throat . This is the day some of us have waited for.To hear from the
horse's own mouth after we first heard about the project that you,OJ ,
James and the so-called Ohio group have initiated long ago. It did not
come as a suprise to me. What is however suprising to me is the extend to
which you are willing to compromise your neutrality and professionalism to
join the semi-litrates in painting a picture which never existed in the
first place. May be you will be generous enough to educate us about the
executive committee that endorsed OJ's nomination. Certainly, not NADD's
executive committee.

It is an open secret that this is the same strategy OJ employed in 2001,
purposely to ostracise his perceived rivals. Secondly, the events leading
this wild nonsense of OJ'S nomination is not also a secret to you. How you
could ignore all these and joined the fray of intellectual charlatans is
indeed beyond me. I simply cannot decipher it!

But at the cul-de-sac, we will meet. For the Gambia , our homeland.


Musa Sanneh
=======================

-BambaLaye

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