RESOLUTION OF PDOIS CONGRESS
 
The PDOIS 2010 CONGRESS approved the following Agenda for discussion :


Report on NADD and the Way Forward For PDOIS
Report on Agenda 2011
Policy on Internal or Intra-Party Democracy
Review on Operations of Political Parties under the Constitution and Laws of the Gambia
Review of PDOIS Membership Policy
Gender and the Multi-Party system
Resolutions and Recommendations
 


Resolution On PDOIS’ Relation with NADD
 
The PDOIS Congress,
Cognisant that NADD came into being as a Tactical and Strategic Alliance aimed at founding a transitional Government that would usher in a level ground for future Multi Party contests in the Gambia;
Acknowledging that it is a safe PDOIS seat which has been transformed into a NADD seat after the withdrawal of some parties from the Alliance;
Aware that PDOIS is the only party in the original Alliance which has not experienced any desertions to join other political parties;
Therefore Resolves that
 




PDOIS shall not abandon NADD;
PDOIS shall maintain its relation with NADD until the next Presidential and National Assembly elections;
PDOIS shall  be the last party to sever relation with NADD.
 
2.   Resolution on Agenda 2011
The PDOIS Congress,
Observing that PDOIS is a party of its own in spite of its relation to NADD;
Deeply concerned with the consequences of the disintegration of NADD which gave rise to a high degree of voter apathy;
Taking note of the fact that out of 670336 voters 405,932 voters did not vote for the APRC Candidate and 542,055 voters did not vote for the opposition;
Cognisant of the fact that voter apathy is the greatest threat to democratic change;
Acknowledging that the tactic and strategy that could bring people from all sides of the political spectrum together and imbue them with a sense of common destiny is the way forward for Democratic change;
Mindful that when the attempt was made to build an Alliance by political leaders from the top failed, the people who constitute the support base could not salvage the situation from below;
Acknowledging that if the people themselves form an alliance to choose their candidate, no leader would be able to desert a grand Alliance and be relevant;
Being convinced that the most durable and invincible form of Alliance is one empowering the people to select their own candidate through a primary;
Taking note of the fact that Agenda 2011 calls for the unity of all those who support the policy of establishing a transitional Government lasting 2 to five years, and their participation in selecting the presidential candidate, who must publicly affirm to constitute and preside over a nonpartisan administration, in order to build the democratic instruments and institutions necessary to create a level ground for multi- party contest;
Observing that Agenda 2011 provides the way to bring on board the members of different political parties and non party members to participate in and take ownership of, the political process to bring about change that most people want and need;
Therefore Resolves:
 


that all members of PDOIS shall endorse and promote Agenda 2011 and shall undertake to play effective role in sensitising, mobilising and organising party and non party members to ensure its realisation;
that all members of political parties which aim to bring about change shall be encouraged to motivate their parties to hold congresses to endorse Agenda 2011so as to bring about unity among all forces for change. 


3.On Party Membership Policy. 
 
The PDOIS Congress,
Taking note of the fact that the sovereignty of The Gambia resides in the people;
Bearing in mind that every Gambian is entitled to basic Social Services;
Acknowledging the fact that governments must be established at the National and Local levels which derive their authority from the consent of the people, to provide public services;
Convinced that political parties have the mandate to shape the political will of the people so that they could exercise their right to choose their representatives on the basis of policies and programmes put before them;
Fully convinced that every Gambian has the right freely to choose whether or not to belong to a political party;
Realising that without mass awareness there can be no enlightened mass movement, and without an enlightened mass movement, there can be no conscious participation by the people in ensuring their political and economic emancipation;
Being conscious that Awareness does not drop from the sky but comes from learning and sharing experiences;
Being convinced that the most important function a party could perform in shaping the political will of the people is to pass on knowledge and experience to those who are yet to know;
Being conscious of the fact that one cannot share knowledge and experience with others that one has not acquired;
Therefore resolves that a PDOIS member:
 


shall strive to know its principles, policies and programmes in order to pass on the knowledge to others to facilitate the building of a conscious mass movement for democratic change;
shall fill the prescribe form upon request to update one’s membership;
shall build up links with other PDOIS members at the village, ward, district, regional and National levels in order to build branches of the party;
shall contribute resources according to one’s capacity to ensure that the objectives of Agenda 2011 is realised in the short run to ensure a level ground for multi-party contest and that PDOIS Principles, Policies and Programmes are implemented by a PDOIS led Government in the future. 
 
 
 


On the exercise of political rights
The PDOIS Congress,
Being Cognisant of the fact that the Gambia is a sovereign Republic and that sovereignty resides in the people;
Acknowledging that the authority to lead must be derived from the consent of the people;
Taking note of the fact that it is the right of each sovereign Gambian to take part in the management of the affairs of the country either directly or through chosen representatives;
Noting that representatives are chosen through a free and fair voting system;
Bearing in mind that each Gambian has a right to form or belong to a political association;
Taking note of the legal provision that political parties are mandated to shape the political will of the people by disseminating their political, economic and social programmes;
Recalling the code of conduct adopted by all political parties in the Gambia on 6th February 2006 which calls for the respect of the rights of all other parties to campaign freely and to disseminate their political ideas and principles without fear;
Therefore resolves,
 


to educate all its members to understand their constitutional and legal rights and refrain from interfering with the rights of others;
to cooperate with all political parties and civil society organisations to ensure that the constitutional and legal provisions as well as the code of conduct governing the exercise of civil and political rights are respected and implemented by the state and all citizens;
to contribute to the realisation, consolidation, protection, preservation and expansion of the sovereignty of the people;
to uphold and defend freedom of association and freedom of expression and further contribute to ensuring that the will of the people is not fettered in any way;
Promote the establishment of a genuine multiparty system in the country to ensure that no restriction or hindrance is imposed on any party from exercising its political rights in the country.
5.     On party development fund
The PDOIS Congress,
Acknowledging that no political party can survive without mobilising adequate resources to carry out its activities;
Being conscious of the fact that PDOIS relies principally on the human and financial resources of its members to carry out its activities;
Taking into consideration those financial difficulties do bar many people from contributing their quota to the material wellbeing of the party;
Noting that through collaboration some party members could establish joint enterprises and contribute to the party’s welfare;
Convinced that the party could manage its own website, build its own fund raising schemes and support its own members to provide services to the public at minimum fees;
Therefore Resolves


To establish a Party Development Fund which will be utilised to initiate party development projects to promote the development of the party, its members and the community at large;
That the party leadership establishes an ad hoc committee to advise the Central Committee on the modalities for creating the party development fund and to further work with party members on projects at the village, district, regional, national and international levels that will further the interests of the party, its members and the communities at large;
The community based branches initiate projects for their economic self reliance and foster other community based programmes such as adult literacy and other cooperative ventures that could satisfy community needs.
 


On party branches abroad
The PDOIS Congress
Bearing in mind that many PDOIS members have gone abroad for one purpose or another;
Acknowledging that travelling abroad does not negate the sovereignty of the person and one’s right to participate in determining the affairs of the country;
Taking note of the fact that PDOIS is committed to extending the franchise to Gambians abroad;
Acknowledging the presence of Party members from abroad;
Therefore resolves that,
 



Each member of the party abroad who has the desire to participate fully in party activities writes to the Central Committee at ones own volition and indicate any commitment to link to other members to form party branches in their countries or continents of residence;
All supporters who have been consistent in giving solidarity to the party and are now resolved to become members may write to the Central Committee to indicate their request to be members;
The Central Committee shall consider and make a decision on either request to form a party branch or become a member;
All members and supporters abroad should support Agenda 2011and provide time, energy, material and financial resources to facilitate its realisation;
that those who attended the Congress from abroad should represent the interest of the party in the countries where they reside and further work towards building party branches in those countries, operating in a democratic manner and conveying any decision they may make to that effect back to the party leadership.
 


On internal or intra party democracy
 
The PDOIS Congress,
Taking note of the fact that that the party is a school that helps party members to come together to share knowledge and experiences on how to manage the affairs of a country;
 
Being Fully convinced that internal party Democracy is inconceivable without power being exercised by the party members to determine the representation in the party at all levels and further determine and implement the policies and programmes of the party; 
Bearing in mind that PDOIS is a principle, policy and programme-centred party and not a leader-centred party and that the membership is required to be fully in charge of the decision making powers of the party and are supposed to be educators, mobilisers and organisers of the people;
Recognizing the urgency to assert, strengthen and expand the democratic character of the Party, which gives the membership power to determine those who are to manage its day to day affairs, on their behalf, if the Party is to be safeguarded from being centred around personalities;
Acknowledging that the membership must be an embodiment of collective political awareness if it is to exercise power to determine who is to handle what responsibility for the Party in an informed manner; 
Therefore Resolves 
 


To foster the growth of party branches to enable the membership to develop understanding of issues of importance and build relation with each other to consolidate their organisational capacities and democratic characteristics at the village and ward level;
To promote the convening of conferences of members and sensitisation workshops at the village, ward, district, regional, National and Diaspora levels before the end of 2010 in order to prepare the ground for the holding of a Congress immediately after the declaration of the date for the 2011 Presidential elections in order to elect party executive members.
Initiate party political civic education and cultural activities to win the hearts and minds of the people and expand its membership base 
 
 
Internal Party Democracy
PDOIS’ Internal party Democratic principles have been developed over the years through prolonged, exhaustive and enthusiastic debate. It became clear to all members that if we are to become the architects of our own destiny, we must gain political awareness. It is equally evident that without mass awareness there can be no enlightened mass movement, and without an enlightened mass movement, there can be no conscious participation by the people in ensuring their political and economic emancipation. Awareness does not drop from the sky. It comes out of learning and experience.
This realisation explains how fundamentally important it is for those who know to pass on their knowledge and experience to those who are yet to know. It is recognised that a PDOIS member should be one who strives to know in order to pass on one’s knowledge to others to facilitate the building of a conscious mass movement. Herein lies the fundamental difference between PDOIS and some political parties. Membership of such parties is based on the pursuit of short term interests of people who are not linked together by any principles, policies and programmes. Consequently, such parties are generally centred around personalities. Such personalities become the symbol of unity. 
Their political successes keep the parties together while their failure leads them to disintegrate. The masses become mere pawns, under the dictate of the party leader. They show their loyalty and commitment by outdoing each other in showering praises to a party leader, selling membership cards, canvassing for votes and raising funds just to ensure the electoral victory of a particular political personality.
Members of PDOIS, however are not brought together just to strive to win votes and contribute to the electoral successes of patrons; on the contrary, they come together to acquire the experience and knowledge on how to ensure the political and economic emancipation of the people. 
PDOIS is a principle, policy and programme-centred party and not a leader-centred party. The membership constitutes a principle-centred membership that is required to be an educator, liberator and organiser of the people.
The very foundation of the Party depends on its members. This is why it is recognised that, if the Party is to be the embodiment of the collective will of its members then the members must be aware of the principles, policies and programmes which bind them together. They must be committed to upholding, defending and spreading those principles. It requires for the membership to rely on itself to build the party instead of relying on patronage. Such resourcefulness is the only way to guarantee that the sovereign will of the members shall always prevail. Such self reliance will make the Party to know only solidarity from those who are convinced of the correctness of its cause.
It is therefore urgent for the democratic character of the Party, which gives the membership power to determine those who are to manage the day to day affairs of the party on their behalf, to be expanded and consolidated if the Party is to be safeguarded from being centred around personalities.
Internal Party Democracy cannot be sustained without promoting political maturity among the general membership. It must be acknowledged that the membership must be an embodiment of collective political awareness if it is to exercise power to determine who is to handle what responsibility for the Party. Those elected to occupy offices should not see their posts as symbols of status but as a position of service to enhance the political maturity of the members and the capacity of the party to lead a nation to attain greater liberty and prosperity.

The Building of Party Branches
The party branches are the key link between the Party’s Central Committee and the masses. The Party cannot expand and consolidate its links with the masses without the establishment of these community based branches that are to knit together genuine educators and organisers of the masses so that they could continue to expand their political and organisational skills in order to empower the people. This will enable them to build the mass movement that could ensure their political liberation and economic emancipation.
The community based branches should initiate projects for their economic self reliance and initiate other community based projects and programmes such as adult literacy and other cooperative ventures that could satisfy community needs.

Consolidating the Party Branches
All the party structures, from the village to the National level should be closely knitted to ensure that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. It calls for programmes, workshops, seminars, symposia, fire side discussions, meetings on farms, bantabas, neighbourhoods and with clubs to make the person sovereign. PDOIS must be ever present among the masses. That is the only way that it can clarify issues and help to shape public opinion in favour of the sovereignty and emancipation of the people.
 
The Way forward for the Party
Each member should initiate discussion with other members and engage the Central Committee to analyse what has been done so far to transform theory into practice, plans into action, examine what ought to be done and give concrete recommendation on the way forward to consolidate what has been done and initiate what has not been done. One must take personal responsibility to follow up on policies, programmes, plans and promises. This is the era to build the sovereign person who shall be the architect of the sovereign Republic.





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