Interesting article from the Gambia Journal....

         POLITICAL LEADERS MUST TAKE A STAND NOW
         By Mbaye B Sarr & Mohammed L. Sillah
         Apr 11, 2006, 19:56

                                         
The alleged coup plot of March the 21st and the crackdown that followed and continue to unfold is threatening to transform the Gambian political landscape and hindering the prospects of free and fair elections later this year. The stunning drama of the past several weeks has whipped up a climate of fear that Gambians have not felt since the transition years of the middle nineties. The gory stories of the treatment of the alleged coup detainees that have been making the rounds in the country have helped to intensify this climate of fear. The horror stories speak of broken necks and limbs, of men driven nuts by the inhuman torments inflicted on them by state-sponsored torturers and of former state dignitaries weltering in mixtures of their blood, tears and excreta. People who over the past several months have had their political instincts aroused have now sunk back to their apolitical shells and apathy threatens to grip the nation. 
   
  While the ruling APRC party carries on with its election campaign in spite of it all, holding meetings all over the country, the opposition parties have not held a single mass meeting for over six weeks. This at a time when the coming rainy season will call for a suspense of most political activities. After the rainy season comes the month of Ramadan, an other season of political refrains. In the middle of that season itself, or just after, the elections are supposed to be held. So when will the opposition be able to meet with voters, introduce their programs and explain their failure to maintain a serious political coalition against the Jammeh tyranny that has been cleverly masked behind the façade Reluctant Democracy.
   
What are the opposition political parties waiting for? The UDP/NRP coalition’s recent release calling for the proper treatment of detainees and respect for the constitution and the rule of law is indeed welcomed, but this is not enough. The opposition must not let the Jammeh regime be always seizing the initiative and dictating the agenda. What has happened to the plan supplementary registration of voters? What measures are they planning to take against the APRC’s apparent plan to once more manipulate the voter register and bring tens of thousands of hired voters from across the border? Currently the ruling party is making maximum use of the climate of fear by keeping the opposition muted and paralyzed. The so-called rallies of solidarity, supposedly non-partisan are only meant to boost the APRC’s chances in the coming elections and almost gone are all talks of reconciliation that dominated the media just about a month ago. 
   
What has become of the Obasanjo-sponsored Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)? Everywhere in the country, district chiefs and divisional commissioners have been busy campaigning for the regime. Around the whole country, potential opposition party militants and activists have been cowed and paralyzed by the fear of being taken along by the storm of terror as the gory aftermath of the alleged coup tends to spread and unfold endlessly. 
   
Being the only hope for return to genuine constitutional government and the rule of law, opposition party leaders must take the bull by the horn and make sure the coming elections will be free and fair. For only this will immunize our dear nation against both tyranny and conspiracies by clandestine groups to seize political power and impose their will on the Gambian Nation.
   
As for the alleged coup attempt the opposition leaders must treat its tale only with a pinch of salt until ample evidence on the veracity of official versions are allowed to be confirmed by independent scrutiny. Political opposition party leaders must urgently call for the immediate restoration of the rule of law. They must call for the setting up of an independent commission to look into all the evidences so far available on the alleged coup. The constitutional and legal rights of the detainees must be restored and upheld. 
 Opposition leaders must call for access to detainees by families, lawyers and humanitarian organizations. Until then, all support or solidarity with the Jammeh regime may be treated as complicity in breaking necks and limbs and the practice of secrete killings. Opposition party leaders in The Gambia of these days must openly call for the boycott of the planned Ten Thousand Man March planned for this Saturday April 15th. If they, the leaders, dare not do all these; if they fear they may be taken in as detainees of the alleged coup, and if because this fear then they must consider resigning their position, or they must reconsider a second chance for a fresh coalition. 
                         
Copyright ©     2005 The Gambia Journal LLC. All Rights Reserved.     Power by Btcsoft,Inc



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