This one needs no introduction!

Regards,

Alpha Robinson

The Independent Published Monday, January 21, 2002

Halifa Sallah responds to Jammeh Warns against politics of
character-assassination

In response to the head of state's description of the PDOIS as a party of
non-believers of God and apologists for an outdated communist concept,
Halifa Sallah has accused President Jammeh of indecent politics and
disastrous lack of political knowledge, unbecoming of a world leader.

Mr. Sallah who described his election to the National Assembly as the
beginning of a new beginning, told The Independent barely hours after he was
confirmed the winner for Serrekunda Central, charged that President Jammeh's
comparison of Soviet Communism with the principles of PDOIS was one of the
most ridiculous and unstudied statements to have emanated from him since he
took power.

He said it was seriously unbecoming of a world leader like Jammeh to make
statements on concepts, which only help to expose his academic and
intellectual bareness.

The renowned sociologist said if President Jammeh should unashamedly
demonstrate his lack of political knowledge of social science they would
therefore not hesitate to give him guidance if he obliges or challenge him
if he insists.

Halifa said although Jammeh took the risk of challenging the characters of
members of his party (PDOIS) with the intention of confusing the minds of
the electorate days before the election, yet he woefully failed to achieve
it, in view of his (Halifa's) election to the National Assembly.

He said PDOIS grandees are people of integrity whose character can never be
tarnished by the president who he said needed serious political orientation
to catch up with the rest of the world.

Halifa Sallah added that by his own victory in Serrekunda Central President
Jammeh has learnt a lesson and that he and his colleagues were going to make
that lesson more expensive for him by showing him how his character
assassination attempts contribute to the politics of indecency in The
Gambia.

Mr. Sallah who opined that President Jammeh required real political
education believes that unless the Gambian leader refrains from using
religion as a disguise for indecent politics, they would be ready to unmask
him.

He said PDOIS have the capacity to make Jammeh give up on
character-assassinating peoples by suffering from it too. He added that it
was derisive of President Jammeh to wax lyrical about religion "when he
organises and attend Futampaf and dance to Bukarabu with a prayer bead on
his hand. What is more irreligious than this?" he charged.

Mr. Sallah emphasised that what is required of leaders is to respect
religious and traditional leaders to ensure the protection of the right to
worship, which he said the PDOIS is well known for defending. This he said
is contained in their manifesto, which states that religious, community and
traditional leaders are to be given the mandate to visit prisons and other
areas where they feel human rights are being violated.

He also quoted the party's manifesto as giving civil leaders the chance to
be witnesses in court cases where violations of rights are involved. Mr.
Sallah who was aspiring to become a National Assembly member since 1987
described his victory as a challenge and a call to duty by the people whom
he would represent to the best of his ability and sincerity.

"This is a victory for democracy. I won the election not by bribing or
intimidation" he said. Halifa said as far as he was concerned, to be in the
National Assembly should not be seen as a career but as an opportunity to
serve the nation. He said in this vein therefore it is not his intention to
serve in the Assembly for more than two terms.

Mr. Sallah argued that although the APRC has a larger representation in the
National Assembly, PDOIS members of the Assembly were not going to be
prevented from employing persuasive authority as people who have the
capacity to assert the authority of truth. He said the government risks
being discredited and removed from power if it continues to ignore the
truth.

Halifa believes that despite their paucity in the Assembly the opposition
pose a danger to the APRC government, which they would challenge on the
powerful grounds of truth and clarity.

He said the people would be sensitized over the need to remove leaders who
fail to deliver. He added that PDOIS' work in the National Assembly would be
geared towards holding executive excesses in check in a most competent
manner with a view to defending the vital interest and aspirations of the
people.

Mr. Sallah stated that he would be utilising all fora to sensitise people in
order to make them architects of their own destines and also to enable them
take ownership of power. He noted that he has duties to perform by setting
up an office where counseling and complaints would be heard.

He said his stint in the Assembly would be marked by emphasis on public
institutions that are either to be catered for by the councils or national
government among other things. He added that committees would also be set up
in all areas to serve as watchdogs of his performance as an Assembly member.

Copyright 2000 QuantumNET

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