Comrades:

Since the ALD symposium, I have engaged members of
the L on the need for a united front.  I want to
admit that numerous Gambians have encouraged me to
continue on with the initiative of calling for a
united front.  Few are frustrated with my relentless attack on the UDP leadership.

In a change of strategy, I will not single out the
UDP in trying to lead the opposition.  I realized that
some ardent supporters of this party are offended.  I
therefore, apologize to those supporters who are
offended about my constant criticism of their party.  I do want to reiterate that I have reservations about the ability of a disjointed opposition winning the presidency.

Having said that, I am not throwing in the towel.  I
will from now on talk about the need for unity and will call on the entire opposition to make bold initiatives in flushing out the dictator.  Please welcome to Gambia Politics 101.

In the aftermath of Sir Dawda's victory over the
late Mr. Pierre N'jie, the PPP leadership was viewed
as a group that no one could criticize.  Complacency
and lack of solid understanding in making critical
criticisms of the PPP, led to disastrous sentiments
within the electorate.  I am afraid to tell you
comrades, we are following the same trend.  When one
criticizes an opposition party, one should not be viewed as an opposition within the opposition.  This to me, is very disturbing.

I had engaged Brother Halifa Sallah on numerous
occassions.  This dear brother had always been direct
with his policies and had made himself available to my
criticisms.  After meeting with Brother Sallah, I was
convinced that he should have a right in our struggle
and that the entire opposition should join forces to
salvage our country.  Though PDOIS advocates some form
of socialism, it has done more in educating Gambians
than any political party in our country's history.
Why then should some members of the opposition ignore
the importance of PDOIS?  At least PDOIS has kept its
promise in refusing to recognize and meet with the present IEC leadership.

Going back to the history of Mr. Pierre N'jie, how
many of my readers have seen this late great man
walking under his veranda with a dark suit on?  How many of you remember how this great man was betrayed by some of his supporters who joined the PPP?  Why I ask comrades, do we lack the feeling to talk right and walk right in our struggle.  Please excuse me if I sound like a preacher.  I may have inherited this from my late imam grandfather.  I used to make it an
occasion just to see this late elder statesman in his
dark suit.

In an unscientific survey that I took, I asked Gambians whether they could give reasonable assurance of an opposition victory.  Many of you have replied in the negative.  When I further asked what will happen after the election, many of you have said an uprising would occur and some would die.  My question then is, what can we do to prevent such a thing from happening?

Do we lack the fire in our bellies to talk straight?
Why do we have to mortgage our future and give dictator jemus another 5 years?  Some of us who are
away from The Gambia are lucky.  Do we want our
citizens to be ruled by a moron who does not care about an average Gambian?  Why I ask dear friends, should we let such a terrible thing happen in our country's history?

It is really a disturbing trend that we are letting
our feelings dictate our intended purpose of
salvaging our country.  We will be making a serious
mistake if we fail to act in a fathom of political
maturity.  Our ideals and aspirations should serve
as guiding principles in freeing our country.  We must call for unity.  Our house should not fall down.

We must understand that after investing time, money
and efforts in our struggle, we are left with no
choice, but to create realistic strategies in our
endeavor.  I hope we remember the slained students
whose parents are constantly reminded of fear
and brutality by satan yahya.  We must also remember
Dumo et al who are languishing in jail for crimes
that were cooked and baked by the prophets of doom.
We must remember the barred politicians whose inherent
rights to political democracy are denied.  We must
remember the economic decay our country is in.  We must remember the silent majority whose rights are trampled day in and day out.  We must remember the ignorance and ineptitude of a selfish parasyte who is bent on deceit.  Comrades, my blood is boiling with
frustration.  I ask for God's guidance. I feel a sense of brotherly love for my country.  I hope we are in agreement.

I can remember words said to me some years ago by my former headmaster.  The late master John Jawo said: "if you want to be a thief, be a notorious one.  If you want to be a lair, be a notorious one."  Master Jawo further said, "ignorance and selfishness will destroy a person."  I hope we can do some searching within our inner selves and decide what is best for The Gambia. I hope we can reach a conclusion of maturity.  I hope we begin to understand that we are one tribe and one Gambia.  I hope we know that The Gambian country cannot and should not be mortgaged.

It is indeed refreshing that our inner abilities in
creating a country for all, can only happen if we
understand our differences should not block the
positives that we share collectively.  The Gambia,
our homeland cannot and should not be taken away.  We
cry and say in a loud and clearer voice, "please
dictator yahya, let our people go."  We have a
gigantic tasks ahead of us.  We are tired, but we are
conscious and are willing to take leadership roles in
freeing The Gambia.  Please let us move and match for
a better Gambia.  May the efforts of our leaders
prevail?  May the dictator be driven out of
The Gambia?  May the little things that are creating
barrers to our unity be washed by the mighty River Gambia?

The Gambia, I cry. The Gambia, I love. The Gambia,
many of us will call home one day.

Long live democracy and down with dictator yahya
jemus.  Dictator yahya jemus is the worst thing that
has ever happened to the Gambian people.

Naphiyo,

Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
Greensboro, NC/Kombo East Constituency

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