It is true that if an ape ran against Yaya in a free and fair elections,
Yaya will lose. It is also true that any of the Opposition parties back home
can rely on Yaya's dreadful record (of murder, theft and scandal) and defeat
him in a fair and free elections. But to argue that because of these
self-evident truths, there is no need for a united Opposition, tantamount to
putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

As we pointed out on G_L months ago, elections are not won or lost on
elections day. The existence of a free and fair elections is not only
measured on elections day. In order to ensure the semblance of a free and
fair elections, the Opposition need to unite now. It is only by speaking
with a united voice now that they would stand a chance of contesting the
elections in a somewhat level footing come elections day.

I submit that if we do not have a united opposition now, then there will be
no free and fair elections where proponents of an divided Opposition can
prove to us that one single party stands a chance when pitted against Yaya.
Past elections with Yaya proves my point. When we had a divided opposition,
Yaya had the audacity to weed out the career politicians he did not like and
ban them. He stifled the rest of the opposition knowing that there will not
be a concerted resistance against him. In the end, he won a landslide
victory when we all know that under normal circumstances, Yaya cannot even
win a contest for a High School class president. The only contest the vermin
won was when his fellow junta members chose him as their leader when they
stole power from a democratically elected government. The criteria the
losers used in order to choose Yaya is now common knowledge. It has nothing
to do with winning electoral votes.

So, the purpose of a united opposition is not just to defeat Yaya on
elections day. The purpose is to also ensure that come election day, we will
have somewhat of a level playing field. We should not allow Yaya to pick and
choose the politicians he wants to ban. In other words, politicians should
bury their past differences for now and in a unified voice, call for the
repeal of Decree 89 and the 'un-banning' of politicians that do not want to
join APRC. The selective application of Decree 89 has to stop forthwith. I
am confident that if some of the former politicians were confident about the
support of the Opposition, they will lead the fight against Decree 89.

The fight does not stop at repealing Decree 89 and flushing the latest
government 'White Paper' in the toilet where it belongs. All decent Gambians
should rally behind the BIGGEST opposition party (with the most support in
the country) to make sure that the IEC is not used as a tool to steal the
elections. This is why some people have to swallow their egos and try and do
what is right for the country and not necessarily their personal careers or
their political party's. I say people should rally behind the biggest
opposition party because I believe that is the most democratic thing to do.
I think the biggest party in the opposition should reach out to smaller
parties and try and incorporate some of their ideas and good policies.

I need not lecture any one on how to form a coalition. We all know what
should be done in order to form a united opposition. What some people and
some parties seem to miss, is their positions in the coalition. People have
to be brutally honest with themselves. Do some introspection and assess the
support they have from the general public. If people are still in denial and
are exaggerating their popularity, the opposition need to explore the idea
of having a primary election where all opposition parties participating in
the primaries will pledge to be bound by the results of the primaries. At
the end of the primaries, the smaller parties will give their unconditional
support to the biggest party. Having said that, I believe the opposition can
easily tell (without a primary) which party should lead the coalition.

This primary concept is markedly different from waiting until after the
first round of elections before forming a coalition to contest the second
round. This primary will ensure that the opposition is unified long before
the elections. Again, if we are divided leading to the elections, we might
not even have a second round of voting. Yaya will steal the elections and
win with a landslide in the first round. So it is vital that we unite now.

This primary contest need not be an elaborate contest. In the spirit that I
counsel the biggest party to reach out to the smaller parties, I will also
respectfully counsel the biggest party to negotiate with the smaller parties
and ask the smaller parties to pick key constituencies they want to hold
primaries. Again, there is a lot of room for compromise here if we all have
as our paramount interest what is good for the country. I believe the
opposition can form a powerful coalition that can ensure that Yaya is
defeated in a free and fair elections. But the bickering among opposition
parties have to stop. People have to be able to back up their rhetoric. If
people think that rather than the biggest party, the oldest party should
lead the coalition, i.e. there are some that want to use the AFPRC criteria,
come out and convince people that that is the democratic thing to do and
that will increase our chances of removing Yaya.

It is better to discuss our differences bluntly and honestly rather than
harboring grudges and undermining opposition efforts. At this stage, smaller
parties should have been in talks with the biggest party trying to influence
the biggest party to incorporate some of the policies in the manifestos of
the smaller parties. The biggest party in the country should have already
started accommodating some of the positive aspects of the smaller parties
and assuring smaller parties that they will play vital roles in the next
democratic government we are going to have. This is doable. The murderer of
our children should not be allowed to continue to lead us because the
opposition parties cannot get their act together. If they let a moron like
Yaya apply divide and rule tactics and steal the elections from the people,
then the opposition parties have to take part of the blame. Like I said
before, the Opposition parties must not fail the people by allowing Yaya to
defeat them and then blame the people for being stupid enough to 'vote' for
Yaya. The Opposition parties should reach out to people and convince them
about the undesirability of Yaya. Gambians have removed incumbents from
office on several occasions. They are capable of removing Yaya through the
ballot box. But the Opposition has to unite to ensure that there is a free
and fair elections.

When the modalities are worked out and the parties know their respective
places in the coalition, I will be more specific about what I think the
legitimate demands of certain parties are. Suffice for me to say though at
this stage that if all of us are motivated by our love for our people, we
will not make unreasonable demands or exaggerate our positions in the
coalition.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that these are my personal views. I
am not trying to further the cause of any one political party. I will give
my unconditional support to any party the Opposition thinks stands a better
chance of defeating Yaya. My not supporting any one political party at this
stage is not an indictment on our current political leaders. Frankly, I have
not given the matter much thought. We had enough abuses from Yaya to fill
our plates. Secondly, I am still not convinced that we can have a free and
fair elections in the country under the current climate. So, until the
smaller parties come out and endorse a single candidate from the biggest
party to run against Yaya in the coming elections, I will continue what I
have been doing; i.e. commenting on issues that are important to me, without
regard to toeing the party line.
KB

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