Jabou, thanks for your post and the questions you and others have raised.  The Gambians in the diaspora will have an opportunity to talk to the opposion at the coming ALD Conference.  This is an occasion that the folks back home never had.  We will, for the first time, have the opportunity to pose the pertinent question of a "United Opposition", and hear their individual responses.  This Conference have the potential to do two things: We will walk away from it knowing the various party platforms and their interest in forming a coalition.  We will also have more information to seriously discuss our position, as donors, in the upcoming presidential elections.  Thanks again for your interest in this discussion.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou

>From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Brother Conteh Re: ELECTION FUND UPDATE
>Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:43:21 EDT
>
>In a message dated 5/12/2001 8:17:10 AM Central Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
><< If these people truely wants to lead us in the interest of all and sundry,
> then why can't they put their differences aside and work for an amicable
> compromise that will gurantee all and sundry a decisive victory over APRC,
> especially when it seems suicidal at this stage for any single opposition
> party to assume they can win on their own >>
>______________________
>I have been silent on this issue, and have not sent in any money partly
>because I also have had the above question, as well as others on my mind.
>
>I am sure I remember brother Halifa Sallah making the statement on this
>forum, that he will support only a colaition that will consider Sidia Jatta
>as the leadership candidate or something to that effect.
>The UDP has not really responded to a call for a coalition of the opposition
>or clearly stated their poition on this issue, and no one ever hears anything
>from the NRP, so for us on the L, they may as well not exist.
>
>The big question I have is this. Who gets this money, and how will it be
>divided? Do we give portions to each opposition party, and for what purpose?
>If these guys do not form a coalition, they stand the chance of a snowball in
>hell of any of them winning any election with the current state of affairs in
>our country.
>
>As things are now, they have not given us any indication that any of them is
>willing to give up their quest to be number one to unite to save our country
>in it's darkest hour. This in itself is very revealing vis a vis the kinds of
>people who are aspiring to lead us.It appears that what we have here is a
>case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians as the old saying goes.
>
>Does this not tell us that all we have are a bunch of power hungry folk who
>will not budge because they think that the other guy may become president and
>not them? Are we then not back to the same old drawing board of the position
>being more important to these guys than the country and the people who are
>the reason they can be leaders in the first place?
>
>There is no point just giving a portion of these funds to each party. What
>purpose will it serve? Help them buy votes like the corrupt and criminal
>Jammeh regime that we are trying to get rid of, and at the same time waste
>money becasue we know that separately, they cannot win.? On the other hand,
>maybe some of them have a false sense of thinking that they can win due to
>some sheer percieved numbers of people that they assume will vote for them.
>Again, they are dead wrong as those minor elections just held have shown.
>
> It seems to me that the handwriting is on the wall for these opposition
>parties to see, and yet, they are all rearing on their heels waiting for God
>knows what.
>
>Brother Joe Sambou, you are an admirable brother in my view, and collecting
>this money is something that needs to be done if we have the coalition in
>place to show us that we the pwople are more important than the individual
>aspirations of the leadership pf these opposition parties, but we need to ask
>these people these hard hitting questions and get concrete answers backed by
>verifiable action on their part to see if they desrreve our asistance.
>
>We cannot afford to finance another bunch of people whose personal interest
>is more important to them that the Gambian people. We have to stop doing that
>or we will never get anywhere. It is time that those who aspire to lead us
>stop to listen to our demands as the people, because without us, the people,
>there will be no leadership.
>
>Jabou Joh
>
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