Brother Hamjatta, well put. To say that I am disappointed in PDOIS and NCP
would be the understatement of the year. And I cannot believe that this is
the same Bah fellow that was cautioning me not to talk about an Opposition
Alliance when his own Party (PDOIS) was publishing material detrimental to
an Opposition Alliance. The insincerity evinced here by Bah and his Party is
just mind-boggling to me. I counsel Bah to reread what I wrote and also read
PDOIS’ article and tell us which piece was detrimental to a Coalition.
Whereas I tried to bring everyone under one umbrella, PDOIS was busy
nitpicking about who was registering a Party, who belonged to which Party
during the former regime, who financed which Party etc. I was tempted, like
you, to tell PDOIS that its posture was NOT helping anyone but Yaya. But I
did NOT want to say anything to split the Opposition.

Now that the Meeting has taken place and the lines are drawn, I hope PDOIS,
NCP and their supporters get the message that they are NOT part of the
Alliance (as we speak). As such, they will be treated in the way they
deserve. As you rightly pointed out, ALL the other Opposition Parties
(including NRP) are rallying behind Ousainou Darboe. He is our presidential
candidate. He deserves our support and in my opinion he earned it too. I
take this opportunity to appeal to PDOIS and NCP to be pragmatic. We are NOT
talking here about parliamentary elections. We are talking about one post:
President. Only one person can be president. Sidia Jatta and Halifa Sallah
and SM Dibba CANNOT be president at the same time. Any person voting for
these people will be registering a ‘wasted vote’. But worse still, any vote
that is NOT given to Ousainou Darboe, is a plus for Yaya. I hope that the
NCP and PDOIS supporters realize that if they persist in this avenue they
would be as responsible for the ‘election’ of Yaya in the same way as APRC
supporters.

This appeal is a good faith appeal, premised on the belief that every vote
is important. The Opposition Alliance should seek to capture every vote.
That should be the target. I am confident that at the end of the day
commonsense will prevail among Gambians. Gambians will realize who among all
the Opposition candidates is more ‘electable’ and rally behind him. I
frankly cannot understand how a man like Dibba can honestly claim that he
earned the nomination. I look forward to hearing the rationale he is going
to give for his stance. I saw Buhary’s optimistic view and I sure hope that
he is right. However, something tells me that Dibba might have read too much
into PDOIS and APRC propaganda that UDP is made up mainly of NCP supporters.
To Dibba, I will say that the same people that are now saying that UDP is
NCP incarnate, were at one time saying that UDP was/is a PPP front. The
truth of the matter is that UDP is a broad-based Party made up of GAMBIANS
that do NOT like the AFPRC/APRC government; Gambians that want to move
forward and lift our people up from poverty and destitution and mayhem. UDP
is a front for PPP, NCP, PDOIS, and GPP. The UDP membership is made up of
people from ALL the political parties during the Jawara era, just like APRC
is made up of people from all the aforementioned parties. So this notion
that Dibba has to snap a finger and get NCP supporters from UDP, is
ludicrous. I hope at the end of the day, commonsense and patriotism visits
Dibba. I hope people like Dembo Bojang (UDP MP in Bakau) convince Dibba to
do what is right. The man has NOT earned the presidency. I also sense that
the parties that decided not to join the Coalition are also calculating that
even if they do not join, they will benefit from concessions made to parties
like the PPP. For instance, the constitutional changes in the transitional
period will benefit all parties. But PDOIS and NCP have to realize here that
people will NOT forget this treacherous stance. At the end of the day, UDP
might implement a level playing field, but the parties that did NOT join the
Coalition will be reminded about their stance when it is all said and done.
When the field is level, we will tell the Gambian people on whose side PDOIS
and NCP was during the battle to unseat Yaya.

Hamjatta, like you, I am totally disappointed in PDOIS’ encore of their
stance during the London Briefing. Here we go again with form over
substance. I cannot believe that PDOIS will use such a spurious excuse in
order not to partake in a Meeting of this magnitude. A Meeting that will
determine the future of our country. They would NOT attend because they did
not get a letter from Assan Musa Camara? What’s next? Had the letter arrived
by post, would they have insisted that they want a courier delivered mail?
This is preposterous. And to add insult to injury, they pretend that people
were working behind their back. PDOIS was aware of the Meeting slated for
Thursday. When that did not materialize, because as you said Hamat Bah was
out of town, PDOIS was also informed about the Monday Meeting in the same
way others were informed. Instead of getting to the substance of the matter,
they are preoccupied by form. Sent journalists to ask Darboe whether he
received a letter from the convener of the Meeting. This was all to show
that Darboe was given preferential treatment in order to prove PDOIS’
childish case of being left out. When they realize that Darboe also did NOT
receive a letter, they now say that there was collusion in inviting Darboe.
Whichever way you look at it, we are dealing here with people that are
finding every excuse in the book to justify what was clearly poor political
judgment. If Darboe gets a letter, he is damned. If he does not get a
letter, he is damned. Was Assan Musa Camara also colluding with PDOIS when
he contacted them about the Meeting and spoke to them on the phone?

This Party is the same Party that was telling us few days ago in their
ill-advised publication that time was of the essence. We should act quickly
in order to get rid of indecisiveness. Now, when it was time to act, they
start talking about postponing a Meeting in order to receive a letter and
convene a ‘proper’ meeting. I hope PDOIS supporters engage their leaders
frankly. They can either be part of the solution or the problem. If they are
more comfortable joining the APRC in the trenches and spreading an
anti-Jawara message, find with us. Jawara is NOT running and this election
is NOT about Jawara. This election is about Ousainou Darboe and a brand new
Gambia we have NEVER seen before. We are looking forward and NOT backwards.
Let the campaign begin next Sunday, August 18, 2001. We can hold our own
against any Party in the country, be it PDOIS, NCP or APRC or an alliance of
all three parties. Gambians know evil when they see it. Gambians know that
Yaya is NOT good for them. At the end of the day, people will vote for the
Opposition Alliance because they will realize that that is the best chance
of removing Yaya from office.

Finally, I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to Assan Musa
Camara for the tremendous job he did in bringing this Alliance together.
History will judge Mr. Camara kindly. He has shown great patriotism and
selflessness. I pray that God grant him long life and wisdom to continue to
lead in the manner he just did. The other members of the Alliance also
deserve our commendation and support. The stance taken by PPP is especially
commendable. Notwithstanding attacks from all angles, including Opposition
quarters, people like OJ stayed focus on the prize. This is what pragmatic
leadership is all about. I also hope that Darboe accepts this honor
gracefully and realize the magnitude of the trust and responsibility reposed
on him. He should seek to bring all Gambians together to eradicate evil in
our midst.
KB



>From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: On The Opposition Alliance
>Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 21:49:45 EDT
>
>Mr Bah,
>
>I will judiciously ignore your scurrilous and snide remarks. Suffice to say
>that they are baseless and irrelevant.
>
>As per your comment how informed i am about the situation on the ground, i
>can assure you that i'm very informed about the general political situation
>back home. Matter of fact when the scheduled Opposition meeting was going
>on
>today, i was duly informed of the players and constituents involved and the
>circumstances. In this age of the internet and wireless communications, you
>would be surprised the extent to which people are informed about things in
>far off places and remote corners of the globe. Never assume that just
>because we happen to be temporarily residing outside the Gambia means we
>are
>totally in the dark about what goes on in the country - generally.
>
>Some of the comments in your previous correspondence are plainly a
>distortion
>of how things chanced. For instance you commented:
>
>"Are you aware that the UDP had made an announcement endorsing Darboe as
>its
>presidential candidate and are to
>launch their campaign on the 18th. of August? Are you aware that only the
>PPP
>endorsed Darboe's candidature
>at a meeting which was suppose to be an all opposition party meeting
>without
>any invitation to PDOIS or NRP?"
>
>This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. For starters, all parties -
>registered and non-registered - were duly invited to attend this meeting.
>Certainly, it was the case that the PDOIS was formally informed of this
>meeting as was case with the NRP. As it happened, the NRP leader was out of
>town and the meeting had to be re-scheduled twice in lieu of this. Only
>this
>because of time constraints, was the meeting allowed to progress ahead
>without the NRP leader partaking in the political horsetrading. So it was
>grossly misinforming - to say the very least - your assertion that both NRP
>and PDOIS weren't invited to the talks. I repeat ALL parties were invited
>to
>take in the said talks. As i understand it, the NRP leader has conveyed
>through third parties its endorsement - in principle - of how these talks
>were generated and progressed. One shouldn't be surprised to see Hamat Bah
>endorsing the current Alliance plans upon his return.
>
>Contrary to what you said, it was not the UDP that exclusively selected Mr
>Darbo to lead the coalition; rather, it was OJ who put forward Mr Darbo's
>name as a leader of the Alliance and this was seconded by the majority of
>the
>delegates. It was only after this nomination that Mr Dibba felt that he
>couldn't be part of the current scheme of things because he felt he had to
>lead the coalition. That is a regrettable and regressible development. But
>it
>is not true that it was the PPP and the UDP that exclusively conspired and
>colluded by nominating and seconding Mr Darbo's ascension to the leadership
>of the Alliance. It is, therefore, a fabrication of how things materialised
>to suggest that PDOIS or any other party was stitched out of partaking in
>the
>negotiations. Or to say there was a PPP-UDP conspiracy that treacherously
>plotted against the other parties - as your correspondence seemed to me to
>suggest. Furthermore, it ought to be claified here again that it was not
>the
>UDP which announced Mr Darbo as their presidential candidate and that they
>will begin their campaign on the 18th of August. Rather, this was an
>Alliance
>position and not a unilaterally imposed UDP one.
>
>PDOIS' lack of engagement in the current scheme of things and its desire to
>start sullking again about being left out is no one's fault but its own
>making. By their own admission, PDOIS acknowledged through it's political
>organ, Foroyaa, that the UDP had invited ALL parties to join it on its
>campaign trail but it [PDOIS] failed to seize the initiate and engage the
>UDP
>and the other parties on issues that are common to all parties. Instead, it
>is now descending to its old pastime of phobic PPP and Jawara caricatures
>and
>unwittingly doing Jammeh's dirty work for him. If PDOIS is serious about an
>Alliance it would have proactively reached out to the others with
>open-minded
>altruism, generate their trust that ultimately will act as a repository of
>mutual cooperation without which an Alliance will ultimately flounder.
>Despite the hisses and sulks that emanated from the PDOIS, it has never
>publicly initiated mechanism that can help finesse any obstacles that might
>later hinder an Alliance progrss. PDOIS also whined and sulked about a lack
>of agenda and a framework for possible cooperation with the other parties.
>Did PDOIS take the initiative by coming up with an agenda and a framework
>that can be used as basis for mutual cooperation with the other parties?
>Rather, PDOIS, through its political organ, Foroyaa, whined and sulked
>about
>how they are being left out the scheme of things. Oh, and reducing the
>paper
>into a recycling plant of APRC rumours and disinformations. Is this the way
>a
>party interested in cooperation handles itself? Does sniping maliciously
>about your would-be Alliance partners in your paper the way to win their
>confidence and trust? Gauging by the manner in which it has goofed on the
>Alliance progress, i want to suspect that PDOIS has misgivings - that it
>has
>never bothered spelling out to the public - that was left with no choice
>but
>to sulk and whine incessantly about what have done or might have done.
>PDOIS
>has no one to blame for its predicament but itself.
>
>Take for instance PDOIS' lack of attendance of yesterday's talks. Having
>weighed the evidence, it seems to me PDOIS exploited the procedural
>discrepancies of not receiving an official letter from the convenor of the
>said talks and decided not to attend the talks on such flimsy grounds. This
>is lamentable. For none of the other parties that attended the talks
>received
>no official letters from the convenor of the said talks. Yet, that never
>stopped them from attending the talks. This is not the first PDOIS has used
>such dissembling arguments to masquerade their unwillingness to be part of
>the collective effort. With the London Briefing Sessions, it used similar
>subterfuges an excuse not to attend that as well. The fact of the matter is
>that of all the good things that can be said of the PDOIS, cooperation with
>the mainstream parties ain't amongst them. PDOIS has simply shown that it
>has
>a deep seated ambivalence towards the Alliance from the moment it was
>mooted.
>PDOIS was never honest enough to publicly state this deep seated
>ambivalence.
>
>Ultimately, i respect PDOIS' right to do as they deem fit or as their
>consciences dictate to them. Similar respects are extended to Mr Dibba and
>the NCP. I hope, before it is too late, Mr Dibba can be persuaded that his
>party's interest is best served by joining the Alliance and working with
>them
>to defeat the dictatorship. What, however, would be unbecoming of the PDOIS
>is to start working unwittingly for the APRC by doing its dirty for it;
>i.e.,
>  whipping up anti-  PPP sentiments and caricatures to the extent that it
>serves as an allure to the dictatorship. That, in my opinion, would do
>PDOIS
>no favours. For it is such retrogressive acts that strengthen the hand of
>the
>devil that continues to wreak havoc on Gambian lives and the Gambia. I
>sincerely hope that PDOIS this time around heeds the writings on the wall.
>
>Hamjatta Kanteh
>
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