I have a few questions I want to ask the following People/ Parties:

Karamba Touray and Saihou Mballow and the UDP
Pa Samba Jow and Malik Kah and PDOIS
And anyone out there with access to the other opposition Parties.


1. Do you know what your individual parties stance are to a strategic
alliance in the parliamentary elections? Is there is any discussion or is
one scheduled between the opposition parties?

In my opinion, it would be difficult to put fundraising activities in to
action without word from the various parties or their representatives. I
mentioned two parties above only because I do not have their contact info
yet.


MJohnson
Read On

The Independent Newspaper
Banjul


"No retreat No surrender"
“The United Democratic Party led coalition may have lost last month’s
presidential election but its spirit to continue the fight for a genuine
democracy in The Gambia is still strong”, declared Lawyer Ousainou Darboe
Friday at New Jeshwang where the coalition he leads organised a mass
political rally. It was the first major public rally to have been organised
by the coalition following its defeat in the October 18 presidential
election. Lawyer Darboe in a lengthy speech amid cheering and drumming said
that at this stage of our development, the issue of governance could not be
left to the state alone. He said the UDP was formed because of strong
convictions that The Gambia needs an alternative government that is more
development-oriented and focused.
Therefore, he said that defeat in an election, which in itself is part of
the democratic process cannot make the UDP believe that all is lost. He
declared that “the UDP is stronger today than before…We are even more
determined today to bring back sanity to the country”. He disclosed that the
coalition would participate in the coming legislative election in January
2002 and deplored what he called clandestine registration of foreign
nationals from the southern province of Casamance. He also condemned the
President’s sacking of civil servants as a contradiction of his call for
reconciliation. “If Jammeh believes that he truly and honesty won last
month’s presidential election, why the firing spree... Surely Jammeh must be
unpleased with something else” he posited.
The coalition leader called on his supporters to remain loyal to the
coalition because as he put the future belongs to them. He challenged the
government to investigate the death of one of his supporters, Ousman Ceesay
who was gunned down by security forces two days before the election. Lawyer
Darboe also renewed his attacks on the IEC. He remarked that the UDP had
always doubted Gabriel Roberts’ integrity, honesty and leadership as head of
the IEC. “We knew that Mr. Roberts would repeat what he did in 1996. That is
why they sacked Bishop Tilewa Johnson and planted him there because he is a
puppet” Darboe charged.
The interim head of the PPP Omar Amadou Jallow alias OJ said that even
though the coalition has accepted the verdict of the Gambian people, their
suspicious of fraudulent registration exercises conducted allegedly by the
electoral commission has been confirmed by the arrest and subsequent trial
of many Cassamance nationals in Dakar for being in possession of Gambian
national and voters’ cards. OJ said that any ruling party that cannot take
pride in being voted into office by its own people cannot surely think good
about them, nor will it respect their fundamental human rights. He said the
just ended election was another coup-d’etat because as he put it there was
open inducement, sacking of village head chiefs, indiscriminate arrest and
detention of opposition supporters, widespread human rights violation, state
sanctioned thuggery by the youth action group of the ruling party among
others. Mr. Jallow however said that despite the intimidation and
harassment, the Gambian people are still determined to establish a democracy
where the strong are subjected to justice and the weak made to feel secured.
On his part, the UDP Youth Wing leader, Shyngle Nyassi said that President
Jammeh does not love a majority of Gambians and that those who voted for him
were aliens who crossed the country’s porous borders from the Casamance as
his brothers. Many others who spoke at the rally also called on their fellow
supporters not to give up.
The rally was organised according to the coalition to thank the supporters
and sympathizers within and outside the country for their solidarity with
the coalition during the presidential election. THE MEETING WAS TOLD THAT
THE UDP WOULD TAKE PART IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS TOGETHER WITH ITS
OTHER COALITION PARTNERS. THEY SAID IT WAS NO THAT THEY FEEL MORE UNITED
THAN EVER BEFORE.(Emphasis mine)



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