Hi Bailo!
In an interview many years after leaving office, Margaret Thatcher was
asked what her greatest achievement was and she replied "New Labour".
If the same question is posed to Yaya, maybe he will reply "NADD", "the
Gambian opposition" or "the Gambian opposition in the Diaspora". Have a
good day.
Buharry.
----Original Message----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: 2010-08-09 14:06
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subj: The major reason for NADD's disintegration
In the immediate aftermath of the Gambia's opposition
unprecedented dismal performance during the last Presidential
elections, I was so much in disbelief
that I alleged massive vote rigging as a key factor for the elections
outcome. I recall some of my fellow online political pundits notably
Junkung Kujabi insisting otherwise and instead attributing most of the
blame on opposition disunity. I nonetheless considered it prudent to
consult with many people as I could for the reasons of the opposition's
generally disappointing results. One of
those I checked with was a good friend
of mine who had served as a polling agent for one of the opposition
factions.
He blamed voter apathy to such an extent that if voter apathy was a
candidate
in the elections, I would have concluded that my friend had a personal
grudge
against candidate Voter Apathy. Actually, unfortunately because of the
disillusionment arising from high hopes of the people which were
shattered by NADD fall-out, many opposition supporters succumbed to
apathy and stayed away from voting. That is what gave a seemingly
stronger mandate to a genuinely unpopular
dictatorship.
Following the NADD debacle what has become indisputable within the
oppositions ranks which
founded and constituted NADD is that the demise of the original NADD
was a
major turn-off for the opposion electorate. What is still disputed
within
opposition supporters is this : What
was the most significant variable that led to the collapse of the
original NADD ?
And as far as key members of the UDP
are concerned, particularly the UDP-UK branch, their usual resort is to
blame Halifa
Sallah of PDOIS. They argued that :
"It has been suggested in some
quarters that the registration of NADD might not have been a
significant factor
in its disintegration since there was a time lapse between the
registration and
the withdrawal of the UDP and NRP from the organisation. This is
ludicrous."
Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, leader of the UDP had ealier described the
registration of NADD as
a political party as a disaster. If
the registration of NADD as a political party was near a disaster or
even a significant
factor as the UDP claims, then the UDP would have indeed been more
believeable had they withdrawn before initial attempts to select a
flagbearer
for NADD failed rather than after it. If the registration of as a
political party was
indeed a disaster or even a significant factor as the UDP keeps
conveniently
claiming then what about UDP?s followed NRP?s decision to quit NADD? I
do not
think that it would be far-fledged for one to assert that UDP and NRP?s
pull-out from NADD
represented the ultimate disaster for NADD and perhaps the most
significant factor
for the Alliance?s disintegration. How could NADD not have
disintegrated with
the pull-out of its biggest factions? Honestly, blaming Halifa is
merely a
convenient ploy by the both the UDP and NRP to distract Gambians from
the real
reasons for the collapse of NADD. Under Section 8 of NADD's MOU, all
political parties agreed to equality of voting weight regardless of
their size and past election
results. The relevant provision states thus :
??The selection of the candidate of
the alliance for the presidential, National Assembly and Council
elections
shall be done by consensus; provided that in the event of an impasse
section
shall be done by holding a primary election restricted to party
delegates on
the basis of equal number of delegates, comprising the chairman,
chairwoman and
youth leader of each party from each village/ward in a constituency.??
The undeline is mine to highlight the most significant reason leading
to the demise of NADD. However for reasons best known to them, the UDP
leadership willingly and
without duress committed their party to
NADD?s MOU which they later deemed not to be fair given their larger
size
within the opposition. In quitting NADD, The UDP wanted to lead a UN
Security
Council-like status within the opposition after the party?s leader felt
that
the equal say with minor opposition parties such as NDAM, PPP and PDOIS
under a
UN General Assembly format it had signed up to under NADD was not
delivering
the desired effects for them.
The collapse of NADD was therefore generally a collective failure of
leadership
within the opposition ranks which if it were in a mature democracy
would have
prompted the entire involved opposition leadership to refrain from
contesting further
Presidential elections. Realistically, the Gambians who are
yearning for real changes must make do with the current opposition
leadership
and work towards attaining a tactical alliance in the next Presidential
election. The insistence by some UDP supporters
or personalities for smaller opposition parties like PDOIS to simply
surrender to
their party?s expectations is
unrealistic wishful thinking. It is never going to happen. Any
agreement between the opposition
factions would have to be preceded by serious negotiations based on
mutual
respect.
I still believe that Ousainou Darboe should be given a chance as the
only presidential contender for the opposion against the incumbent
provided that the UDP irrevocably agrees to key safeguards for averting
similar false promises that the AFPRC made to the Gambian nation on
July 22 1994.
Bailo
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