Friends, Ebrima and Sanusi's revelation that notwithstanding the abrogation of Decree 89, many First Republic politicians are in effect still banned by other obnoxious laws might turn out to be a blessing in diguise for the Opposition. It might well be the case that there wouldn't necessarily be any fundamental realignment of Opposition policies and or modalities for a tactical coalition to absorb the Decree 89 politicians. Moreso, Decree 89 politicians will find it enormously disabling to resuscitate whatever political fortunes they are left with - INDEPENDENTLY or INDEPENDENT of the current cadre of Opposition leadership. Rather, the worst that can befell us is to have some of these Decree 89 politicians lured away by the APRC propaganda machinery and in essence provide a potential split of the Opposition vote. Even this hypothetical scenario has only remote chances of being the case. The reason for this is both logically and morally construed. Reason being chiefly that I doubt very much if these Decree 89 politicians would be suckered into an unholy alliance with the APRC: Those who were more likely or prone to be suckered into such an alliance have already been lured away. Buba Baldeh and Nafa Saho have already joined the APRC with or without Decree 89. If ever there were others that were ready to join the APRC, they would have done so on the cues of the likes Baldeh and Saho. There is, therefore, no need to second guess where the Decree 89 politicians are heading. Logically, practically and morally there is no better bosom to accomodate their anxieties, hopes and fears than the Opposition camp. Since the law - as it is - largely negates any attempts by the Decree 89 politicians to mount presidential challenges to the incumbency of Jammeh, the best that lies in front of them, is in the interim to informally associate themselves with the current cadre of Opposition leadership and aid their efforts in decapitating the dictatorship of Jammeh. That way, they will be in a good stead to formally engage in politics in a post- Jammeh Gambia. What, however, doesn't augur well is to have Opposition pundits second guessing the intentions, wherewithal or the crimes of these Decree 89. As everything Gambian goes, most certainly, we will have unproductive elements engaging in the past-time of rehearsing and regurgigating the same old anti- PPP sentiments when there are better things to be done with our time, resources and energies. Worse, our resident historians will do their damndest to attempt spark fruitless debates about the role of Decree 89 politicians in the current political mess. Fruitless debates that needless to say, have the propensity to lull us unwittingly into what the APRC and Jammeh loves best: What were the factors responsible for Jammeh stealing power from the Gambian peoples in July 1994. Such stuff and story telling have only academic importance and a great disservice to the efforts of the many who have died, disappeared and made despondent by the Jammeh Madness. Those who are genuinely concerned with the gradual withdrawal of basic Gambian decency by the criminal syndicate that has since July 1994 held the Gambia and the Gambian peoples hostage, would be expending their energies in formulating ideas that help to deliver the Gambia and the Gambian peoples from such a state of affairs. All the best, Hamjatta Kanteh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------