The imbecilic behaviour of despots is nourished by a presumptuous belief that their tyrannical rule has an unlimited existence. This basic fact explains more than any other why despots behave as if "there is no tomorrow"; as if they "are forever". The move being contemplated by Joseph Joof to disqualify Darboe from seeking high political office, like other machinations and nettlesome acts of skullduggery by Yaya's terrorist regime, should be seen in this light. They are immersed in the naïve presumption of immortality- that no one but they are to control the affairs of the nation. So finding ways of stumping the newly formed alliance is consistent with their evil designs to control events in their favor. Remember that Yaya and his grunts are already on record that they will not loose elections! . For them the die is cast: they are going to prevail because in their diminutive minds they are "political immortals"; because they have seized ownership of a country from its people; the Gambia is theirs, according to their Lilliputian view of things. Therefore, we must not ignore Gassama's estimate that the opposition would most likely receive about 36% of the vote in the presidential election. His estimate may be resonating with what the terrorist regime has planed to doctor the results. Lamentably, this grim picture is the "reality" we are faced with. Without a doubt the perils inherent in this reality are great indeed. This is the situation we face in the Gambia today. We have a tyrannical regime that sees no boundaries to its powers and its desire to stay in power. If anybody thinks that come election day Yaya will make a concession speech, he/she is making a mistake. That will not happen,not because the opposition would not win but because it will NOT be allowed to win.This is why the opposition should have two parallel plans: one for fully contesting the elections and two for for confronting the pirates when the results are announced in their favour. But my fear is that very soon, our greatest enemy would no longer be Yaya, but instead the chary attitude of the opposition towards any other means of ending our misery than the ballot box and the courts, which Yaya controls. Now the opposition must be serious about taking to the streets if Yaya steals the elections. We have seen how successful this aspect of the struggle for freedom has been in recent times both in Africa and elsewhere. History tells us that in many circumstances true freedom is earned through sustained struggle and sacrifice, including mass action or the threat thereof. The situation in The Gambia cannot be an exception. AT _________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------