I join Jessey-Conteh in his call to Decree 89 politicians to join the current Opposition to unseat the Dictatorship in the country. Clearly, these politicians belong in the Opposition. After all, Yaya stole power from them in 1994 and continues to this day to lie about their record. So, apart from low-lives like Buba Baldeh, all these politicians should NOT associate themselves with the people that usurped power from a democratically elected government. What we have here, is Yaya yet again administering another nail in his own coffin. The moron’s calculations are going to backfire big time. APRC knew that so long as this Decree was in place, that will taint the entire elections process even absent of tangible evidence that the ballots were rigged. Yaya and his cohorts might be stupid, but they know that much. With the Decree in place, the Opposition need NOT prove vote rigging on Election Day or months leading to elections in order to convince the international community that the elections was NOT free and fair. So, Yaya decided to lift the unconstitutional ban imposed on certain Gambian politicians in order to preempt charges that the elections were rigged. This is all that this gimmickry is worth. The Opposition will not point to Decree 89 to justify rigging. But as the powerful UDP ‘open letter’ showed, there are numerous other things we can point to in order to show that the elections are being rigged. To name a few: the chaotic re-registration exercise. Lack of media access. Lies spread on GRTS on a daily basis regarding ‘defections’ to the APRC. Gabriel Roberts’ attempts to tamper with ballot boxes. Arrest and unlawful incarceration of the APRC opponents. Rampant bribery to win support for the government. So, Decree 89 (one form of rigging) might be gone, but we have other things to deal with. The bottom-line is that Yaya CANNOT win a free and fair election in the country. The moron knows that and all his supporters know that. He has nothing to offer us beside misery. He has stolen from our people and continues to brutalize innocent Gambians. The High School dropout does NOT have a vision that can move the country forward. Decent Gambians have no reason to vote for him. Knowing that, he will try to use intimidation, bribery and criminal behavior to win the elections. It is incumbent on decent Gambians to ensure that the man does NOT force himself onto us. We do NOT need a child-murderer that goes around ordering the slaughter of innocent and defenseless children as our leader. I am encouraged in my belief that this decision about Decree 89 will backfire on Yaya, when I read Gambian newspapers and saw that Assan Musa Camara spoke to Jawara about the Decree. APRC is calculating that they can split the Opposition by encouraging the ex-politicians to resuscitate their old parties. The Decree 89 politicians must not fall for this cheap gimmick. It is their patriotic duty to join the Opposition and help clean a mess they somewhat helped create in the first place. The Decree 89 politicians should all rally behind one presidential candidate that is going to be fielded by the current Opposition. Once that president is in place, all politicians in the country can participate under any banner they want come the parliamentary elections in January 2002. Now is not the time to revisit old rivalries and resuscitate old parties. In the same spirit that the Decree 89 politicians and the current Opposition converged in London on the same platform, they should come together for the larger Gambian good. APRC CANNOT withstand an assault from a Coalition of ALL political parties in the country. The writing is clearly on the wall that Yaya’s days are numbered. Here is a chance for the Decree 89 politicians to vindicate themselves by joining the current Opposition behind ONE Presidential candidate to unseat Yaya. The current Opposition should announce a SINGLE candidate as soon as possible and seek the endorsement of the PPP, NCP and GPP Decree 89 politicians. We need NOT drive away these Gambians from the home they belong naturally: the Opposition. OJ should be encouraged to go to Serrekunda and partake in an Opposition rally and canvass with Opposition leaders. S.M. Dibba should go to his people in Banjul and Baddibu to campaign for the Opposition. Assan Musa Camara MUST neutralize Buba Baldeh. The current Opposition should go after these leaders vigorously and convince them to join the Opposition. We need them. 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