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 > > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - > > > >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. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > 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. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------