We owe many people replies. The volume of work did not permit immediate
reactions.
We have been following the Gambia L these days. We will clarify all issues
regarding PDOIS and elections. I will start to give replies on Friday 4th
April 2001.

Greetings
Halifa

----- Original Message -----
From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2001 3:17 PM
Subject: Re: BOYCOTT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION


> Ms. Joh, Jassey-Conteh and Kats, thanks for keeping your eyes on the ball.
I
> hope the entire Opposition on the ground (the overwhelming majority of the
> Gambian population) also keep their eyes on the ball. We are being taken
for
> a ride in broad daylight. It is important that we not just object to this
> highway robbery, but we should seek ways of stopping this abuse. Gambia is
> NOT Yaya's or APRC's property. We are even going to seize the villages
Yaya
> fenced around Kanilai and regard as his little personal empire. It is
> incumbent upon all of us to try and rescue our country.
>
> Jassey-Conteh puts it best when he said that no single Opposition party
can
> claim to have sole rights to our struggle. This involves all decent and
> peace-loving Gambians. Several people and organizations have made a case
for
> a United Opposition to fight Yaya in October. Word is that there are
> encouraging signs from certain quarters and not so encouraging signs from
> others. To me it is mind-boggling why some Gambians would not buy this
idea
> for a United Opposition; instead, they want to operate solo and try their
> chances against the Devil. This is like gambling with the lives of
innocent
> and defenseless Gambian children. Even God advised us not to fight the
Devil
> solo. When you are attacked by the Devil, you are counseled to seek refuge
> in God rather than trying to fight back solo. The analogy wise men give
you
> goes like this: 'if you visit somebody's house and your host's vicious dog
> attacks you, what do you do? Do you fight the dog directly and risk being
> mauled to death, or do you do the wise thing and hide behind your host
> knowing that the animal will not attack its owner? This analogy also
exposes
> the foolishness of an exaggerated sense of self importance.
>
> In short, we need to put egos and selfish motives aside and do this for
our
> country and its people. It is important that we fight this Devil together.
> The Opposition back home will be making a big mistake if they want to go
> solo in this. We are not doubting their potency. But it is foolish for us
> not to use all the might at our disposal. If the Diaspora can give money,
> ideas and votes, why should their contributions be limited to just giving
> money? If the Opposition back home can unite and prevent Yaya from
stealing
> the elections, why should they let that chance slip by because one party
> thinks it alone can stop the stealing? This is gambling with our
children's
> future. To this day, I have not read one single coherent argument against
a
> united opposition. Instead, what we have is feet-dragging and coward
> second-guessing from opponents of a United Opposition. This is not right.
As
> I said here months ago, if the Opposition assists in any way in
perpetuating
> Yaya through a rigged elections, the Opposition will be as culpable as
Yaya
> for the plight of our people. When I talk about rigging here, I do not
mean
> election day. Remember that as shown by Sheikh Lewis in the past
> by-elections, election observers are always eager to declare that an
> election is free, fair and transparent. I can guarantee you that despite
> documented illegalities, Yaya can always get observers that will give the
> election a clean bill of health. We should not put our fate in the hands
of
> such observers. It is the responsibility of the Opposition to ensure that
> the election is free, fair and transparent from the onset.
>
> With all due respect to PDOIS, Katchikally Touray, Jassey-Conteh, Ms. Joh
> and others that are talking about boycotting the October elections, I do
not
> think that now is the time to throw in the towel and boycott the
elections.
> Although the clock is ticking fast upon us, we still have time to correct
> some of the wrongs that could cause us to boycott. For instance, PDOIS'
> queries about the composition of the IEC is certainly solvable before the
> elections. As I indicated in the run up to the by-elections in Kiang and
> Baddibu, the personality heading the IEC is irrelevant. Both Johnson and
> Roberts are unacceptable. They are both APRC cronies. What we are talking
> about here, are legal technicalities that were breached by Yaya and Pap
> Cheyassin Secka when Johnson was sacked and Roberts appointed. This can be
> corrected by Joseph Joof forcing Johnson to back-date a resignation letter
> and having Yaya reappoint Roberts retroactively. If they can back date
> Decrees to deprive our children of justice in the April Massacre, they can
> surely back date letters to regularize the appointment of a crony so that
> elections can move forward. So, if this legal irregularity is PDOIS' only
> point of contention, it could be fixed easily and they can participate in
> coming elections.
>
> However if PDOIS has more fundamental issues than that, they need to come
> out in the open with those issues. For instance, if they do not want
Roberts
> at all, that is a totally different matter that need other strategies. UDP
> and NRP has to be in sync with PDOIS and PDOIS' reasons for wanting to
> boycott the coming elections. All the parties need to pay heed to concerns
> of ordinary Gambians both at home and abroad that think that the elections
> should be boycotted. Can the Opposition on the ground ASSURE us that the
> elections will be free and fair? This is do or die. It will be nasty if
Yaya
> is still in power come November 2001. We are letting precious time slip
by.
>
> The voter re-registration effort by the APRC should have been fought by a
> united opposition. The unconstitutional sacking of Johnson and appointment
> of Roberts should have been fought by a united opposition. The
by-elections
> should have been fought by a united opposition. A united opposition should
> have fought for Local Government elections be held. An Opposition with a
> united voice should have appeared in London for the briefing to the
British
> Parliamentarians. A united opposition should have been on Gambian
newspapers
> every day challenging APRC lies. A united opposition should have been up
> country campaigning in every village in the country. A united opposition
> should have engaged the Diaspora by now and ensured that Gambians abroad
> could vote in Gambian elections. This are some of the issues that can
allow
> Yaya to steal the elections.
>
> Well, the ball is in the court of the Sallahs, the Bahs and the Darboes of
> the Opposition. We should remember that a heavy burden lies on the
shoulders
> of our leaders. You chose to lead. People's hopes and aspirations are
placed
> on you. Do some introspection to see whether under the circumstances you
can
> deliver. I believe you can. The APRC record is indefensible. But in order
to
> succeed, we need very aggressive and selfless tactics. Forming a coalition
> under one leader that can win Yaya in October, is a good start.
Thereafter,
> the leader should be someone that will give the utmost respect to the
voices
> of the other party leaders and their supporters. It is only through this
> concerted effort that we can prevent the rigging of elections and ensure
> Yaya's defeat in October. Note that I stated 'preventing rigging' first
> before I talked about electoral votes. This coalition has more to do with
> preventing illegality than amassing votes on election day. With a level
> playing field, any of our Opposition leaders can defeat Yaya. Question is
> what do we do to ensure that there is a level playing field? United
> Opposition. If our leaders are not prepared to do this, we might as well
> forget about elections and let Yaya run against himself.
> KB
>
>
> >From: MLJ Conteh <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: BOYCOTT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
> >Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 21:35:07 -0400
> >
> >Comrades:
> >
> >I concur with Kats and therefore call on the
> >opposition to boycott the elections.  It does
> >not make any sense to participate in an electoral
> >process when the presidential election is
> >already won by dictator yahya jemus.
> >
> >The Gambian dictator will use all costs to rig
> >and steal the elections.  By boycotting the
> >elections, the opposition will have more
> >sympathy from the international community than
> >participating, thereby legitimizing the dictator's
> >tactics.
> >
> >This scenario will be similar to the tactics used
> >by the Nicaraguan opposition against the
> >Sandinistas.  No single opposition party can
> >claim to have soul rights to our struggle.
> >
> >Naphiyo,
> >
> >Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
> >
>
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