Mballow, I'm glad you understand the spirit behind my constructive criticism of your party. Please turn a deaf ear to that incorrigible hypocrite and crass imbecile, "Kebba Jobe". He was only attempting to mischieviously create both a psychological and political wedge between us. In this - as in most of his ill-advised attempts to clutter this List with his filth - he shall fail miserably. However, i think in your response to my position, you agreed virtually to most of my charges without so much as uttering it plainly. The gist of my argument was that the UDP is inconsistent afflicted at times and most of the vital bread and butter issues concerning the economy, security, social and political issues that will grip a post Jammeh Gambia has not been clearly articulated by your party. Here is something that you wrote that is a pointer to the inconsistency charge - here presented in the form of the mixed messages you sent out after the by-elections of Baddibu and Kiang. << The fraudulent conduct or the rigging of the Kiang by-elections by means of voting buying.These matters were under investigations by the party's legal team and they recognized strong irregularities in the poll and concluded that the results didn't reflect the voters wishes. >> Here one can see that your party leadership's declaring of the by-elections free and fair albeit a few hitches was not only contradicted but reveals the hubristic tendency of your party's communication of vital information. If these by-elections were under scrutiny by your legal team, then all press liaisions on the by-elections after you accepted the outcome, manifestly failed to show this. All the accounts of the by-elections that i read online haven't shown any sign that there was an internal probe going on that seeks to investigate allegations of electoral malpractices. UDP should have communicated this development forthwith soon as it became a reality and not dithered in public by saying different things that clearly contradict the actuality of things that chanced during the said by-elections. Perhaps the choice of words should not have been inconsistencies but **incompetence** i.e., incompetence in presenting their case appropriately and tactfully to the Gambian peoples and the world outside. Yet, even the inconsistency charge has not been effectively disarmed by you. Here is something you wrote which is another pointer. << The party had questioned the neutrality of the electoral commission,**whose members are Jammeh's hand picked** and particularly Mr.Roberts who was the the commission's chairman during the 1996 presidential and 1997 National Assembly elections in which the country experienced a "transition without change." >> If you have strong reservations about the integrity of Gabriel Roberts et al to fairly and freely conduct elections, then how come you engage Roberts in the said by-elections and in the process TACITLY legitimising the illagal chairmanship of Roberts? It reeks of both inconsistency and hubris to participate in by-elections that are administered by an outfit whose membership you aptly described as "handpicked by Jammeh" and are virtually his yes-men and turn still say you view those members as illegal occupants of a public office and contesting their ligitimacy in court. My point remains unrefuted: By contesting these by-elections, the UDP's legal and moral case against the IEC has lost its backbone. Not only that, Roberts et al have ironically and TACITLY been legitimised by your participation in the said by-elections. All the best, Hamjatta - Kanteh [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] URL: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/hamzakanteh/myhomepage/newsletter.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------