Mr. Owens: It is interesting that we are in principle as a united front against the dictator. Whether we decide to critic issues in their entity, we have reasons to be critical of the dictatorship. It is disturbing to hear Hon. Touray's expulsion from Kebba Jobe, though he Kebba said the opposite of the truth. It will serve members of the L if UDP and NRP can have their propaganda secretaries listed on the L so that we can engage them in substantive debates. I commend Brother Halifa Sallah for coming forthwith with his analysis on PDOIS's position. My position on Hon. Touray's case has not changed. I believe that the UDP has a moral obligation to tell us what really happened rather than reading the trend of events from third parties. As we move in a threshold, we as an opposition must clearly define our purpose and seek unity. We should not be in any position to create disarray. I believe that the UDP leadership acted improperly in expelling Hon. Almamy Touray. Naphiyo, Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh ------Original Message------ From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Sanusi=20Owens?= <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: May 8, 2001 11:24:57 AM GMT Subject: Re: UDP EXPELS HON. ALMAMY TOURAY/INDEPENDENT Comrade Conteh This was a brilliant point. However, I wonder whether it is sensible for UDP to have someone like Touray in their camp. I have carefully followed the activities of Mr Touray as NAM of the UDP. At no time have I heard him made any significant contribution to the Adjournment debates. In addition, I have heard no contribution from Mr Touray on the following motions sponsored by the UDP; The Crude Oil Saga, The motion to defeat the Government's amendment to the Indemnity Act. Comrade Conteh, Lets face it Almamy Touray's expulsion from the party is a blessing in disguise. This man already has a criminal record and it would be difficult for him to defend his record as an NAM of UDP in the next parliamentary elections. I think UDP should have expelled Mr Touray after his release from Beligian jails. It was an embarrassment to the party, but thank God the matter has now been settled. According to reliable sources, Mr Touray is seen as a possible defector to the APRC. If this is proven to be true then surely they have taken a wise measure; EXPEL HIM BEFORE HE EMBARRASSES THE PARTY. Having said so, I agree with you that UDP should have waited until after the dissolution of parliament, but why should they tolerate someone who lacked the political courage to defend the party's interests in parliament? Finally, Mr Touray represents a constituency which were affected by the April 10/11 Students Massacre. If Mr Touray could abstain from voting on the Indemnity Act then surely we wonder why he should continue representing the people of Barrajally,who lost their kids in that brutal act by security forces of the APRC. What message does it give to the Gambian majority yearning for justice? The NAM who should have been at the forefront decides to keep silent about the whole issue. In all fairness, UDP has set its standards and we should commend them, other parties should take note that a principles must never be compromised for individual interests or else political freedom from APRC will be a myth. I understand that it was Kebba Jobe who first sent us this information entitled a Terrible blow to UDP. There again we saw our University Graduate in Engineering trying to act as a passive supporter of the APRC Government. One fundamental blunder committed by Mr Jobe was to regard Touray's "resignation" from the party as a terrible blow to the party. What's wrong with this man. I have read all his articles, but this one was the worst. We all know what is a terrible blow to a political party. Did he read Mr Tamsir Jallow's comments on Musa Suso's conviction. Did Tamsir Jallow not say that Musa Suso's conviction was a terrible blow for the ruling APRC? If Mr Jobe was honest with the situation, we would heard his views on this case. Here the party in power got humiliated and they had to recover by making Touray's expulsion a big issue. It is my view that Mr Jobe must have been acting on orders from above to disseminate news that Touray has resigned from the party in the hope of diverting attention from the Musa Suso's conviction. They have used this tactic before, take for instance the April Massacre. At a time when people were mourning the death of those youths murdered by the security forces, APRC decides to announce that Almamy Touray is serving a prison sentence in Beligium.In fact this news was always kept under the carpet and their decison to make it an issue was all political. The whole ploy by APRC was for people to focus on Touray's imprisonment and forget about the APRIL Massacre. With this in mind, the APRC have suffered a terrible blow from last week's sentencing of Musa Suso's conviction for drug trafficking. If APRC had the guts, they would have suspended Musa Suso from the party, but instead even gave him an award some two weeks ago. I think that award was to indicate that he will be the First Member of the National Assembly to be convicted in the Gambian Law Courts.Well Done Musa Suso for being Mile 2 Prison's VIP- very important person or vagabonds in power. I await your response. Have a wonderful day Sanusi --- MLJ Conteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Pah: > > I read with interest your posted message on > Hon. Almamy Touray's expulsion from UDP. You > indicated that one of the reasons was that > Hon. Touray did not follow party rules of > conduct and also was silent during the passage > of the last controversial bill in the legislature. > You further stated that he was working with the > enemy forces against the interest of UDP. > > I am really concern about the subjective > interpretation by the UDP leadership in this > situation. Hon. Touray was elected to represent > the people of Niani. His duty as a member of the > legislature is to interpret legislative issues > objectively and if he fails to do sure, he has > breached a contract with his constituency. > > I am further concern that with the present state > of affairs in our country, the opposition should > be engaging in building a family tree rather than > cutting it down. I do not condone Hon. Touray's > behavior, but I am concern with the lack of > independence that elected members must exhibit > during parliamentary proceedings. No elected > representative should robber stamp any initiative > endorsed by his or her political party. As we > reach a finer moment in our struggle, we need to > embrace each other rather than destroy the > bridge building initiative that the opposition > started. > > In this analysis, I condemn the leadership of UDP > for expelling Hon. Almamy Touray. Hon. Touray has > all the rights to be a renegade member of The > Gambian legislature. I have not heard from the > speaker or the clerk of the legislature of any > violations committed by Hon. Touray. If it is > true that the gentleman did not violate any > parliamentary proceeding, then the UDP leadership > acted unwisely to expel Hon. Almamy Touray. It > seems that the UDP leadership is enabling a void > in inflicting a serious wound to the image of its > party. Though I am a passive supporter of UDP, I > have a duty to disagree in principle in expelling > a member of The Gambian legislature from an > opposition party trying hard to unseat a dictator. > > Naphiyo, > > Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of > postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > You may also send subscription requests to > [log in to unmask] > if you have problems accessing the web interface and > remember to write your full name and e-mail address. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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