Gambia's Political Situation Worse And Threatening - Moja-G Spokesman The Independent (Banjul) August 6, 2001 Posted to the web August 6, 2001 Banjul, the Gambia Ousman Manjang, former spokesman for the Movement for Justice in Africa - Gambian branch (MOJA-G) and current project coordinator of Gambians for Self Employment (GAMSEM), who is among those consulting with various political parties to ensure good governance, political stability and democracy, has described the current political situation in the country as "worse and threatening." In an interview with The Independent, Manjang said when the same question about the country's political situation was posed to him last year, he though it was "dangerous" but now "I will say it is worse or should I say threatening?" He noted that the political atmosphere is threatening the "peace, stability and even the foundations of our nation", emphasising that there are politically-related problems ravaging communities throughout the country. He cited examples of political uncertainties in Gambisara, Banatanto, Gunjur, Jambur and Dampha Kunda, adding that the same problem is also present in some religious communities and national institutions. "Our society is becoming dangerously over-polarised", he said, fearing that "such issues seem to be only matters of procedures and our sub-region is fast aflame." On his recommendations for free, fair and transparent elections, he said they could be found in the relevant provisions of the National Constitution, the IEC recommendations and other agreements that the parties were able to work out in their consultations. Mr. Manjang noted further that one important thing to realise is that free and fair elections should be seen as an advantage for everybody as it will strengthen the legitimacy of whatever government that comes out of it and reinforces loyalty to the regime and patriotism to the country notwithstanding how we may have voted." On the issue of 'spot counting', he said the ruling party said the economy and logistics of on-the-spot-counting is too heavy a burden to carry presently, while the opposition disagrees. Therefore, the ruling party ought to present sufficient alternatives to that effect. He confirmed working with Lawyer Emmanuel Joof of ASCL, and Mohammed Lamin Sillah of Amnesty International Banjul Branch, but that representatives of some other civil society as well as religious leaders are also involved. Continuing, he said due to the fact that such matters were always delicate and difficult to handle, they drew up a framework they are gradually working on and hoped to share it with the media and other interested parties. He also acknowledged that all the political parties have been involved in the discussions, except PDOIS who maintained that they prefer to wait for the result of the court decision on the sacking of IEC officials; while the APRC, who took the lead is now reconsidering its position, claiming the framework has been used as a ground to launch attacks on it. He pointed that it was a mistake to suggest that, as there was only one "single incident, which was quickly addressed." But declined to explain or elaborate on that incident as "it happened in a close-door meeting." He said they were interested in peace, reconciliation and democracy and that due to the nature of our society, armed conflict (Allah forbids) will have more devastating social and humanitarian consequences, and they hoped to device how best such possibility would be averted. On whether MOJA-G is alive, Manjang maintained that "MOJA may be down, but not out," and that the "peculiarity of MOJA is unlike other parties", as it believe the masses are the liberators and architects of their own future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Independent (Banjul) August 6, 2001 Posted to the web August 6, 2001 Banjul, the Gambia Ousman Manjang, former spokesman for the Movement for Justice in Africa - Gambian branch (MOJA-G) and current project coordinator of Gambians for Self Employment (GAMSEM), who is among those consulting with various political parties to ensure good governance, political stability and democracy, has described the current political situation in the country as "worse and threatening." In an interview with The Independent, Manjang said when the same question about the country's political situation was posed to him last year, he though it was "dangerous" but now "I will say it is worse or should I say threatening?" He noted that the political atmosphere is threatening the "peace, stability and even the foundations of our nation", emphasising that there are politically-related problems ravaging communities throughout the country. He cited examples of political uncertainties in Gambisara, Banatanto, Gunjur, Jambur and Dampha Kunda, adding that the same problem is also present in some religious communities and national institutions. "Our society is becoming dangerously over-polarised", he said, fearing that "such issues seem to be only matters of procedures and our sub-region is fast aflame." On his recommendations for free, fair and transparent elections, he said they could be found in the relevant provisions of the National Constitution, the IEC recommendations and other agreements that the parties were able to work out in their consultations. Mr. Manjang noted further that one important thing to realise is that free and fair elections should be seen as an advantage for everybody as it will strengthen the legitimacy of whatever government that comes out of it and reinforces loyalty to the regime and patriotism to the country notwithstanding how we may have voted." On the issue of 'spot counting', he said the ruling party said the economy and logistics of on-the-spot-counting is too heavy a burden to carry presently, while the opposition disagrees. Therefore, the ruling party ought to present sufficient alternatives to that effect. He confirmed working with Lawyer Emmanuel Joof of ASCL, and Mohammed Lamin Sillah of Amnesty International Banjul Branch, but that representatives of some other civil society as well as religious leaders are also involved. Continuing, he said due to the fact that such matters were always delicate and difficult to handle, they drew up a framework they are gradually working on and hoped to share it with the media and other interested parties. He also acknowledged that all the political parties have been involved in the discussions, except PDOIS who maintained that they prefer to wait for the result of the court decision on the sacking of IEC officials; while the APRC, who took the lead is now reconsidering its position, claiming the framework has been used as a ground to launch attacks on it. He pointed that it was a mistake to suggest that, as there was only one "single incident, which was quickly addressed." But declined to explain or elaborate on that incident as "it happened in a close-door meeting." He said they were interested in peace, reconciliation and democracy and that due to the nature of our society, armed conflict (Allah forbids) will have more devastating social and humanitarian consequences, and they hoped to device how best such possibility would be averted. On whether MOJA-G is alive, Manjang maintained that "MOJA may be down, but not out," and that the "peculiarity of MOJA is unlike other parties", as it believe the masses are the liberators and architects of their own future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------