All of us agitating for change are clearly disappointed that potential allies could not successfully negotiate a total alliance. What has unfolded on Gambia-L since Tuesday has essentially been a spirited reaction of frustrated and somewhat impatient collection of fine citizens. This is natural for patriots of a country as put upon as Gambia is today. The overall sentiment as far as I can garner from the postings I have read is one of utter anger. Folks simply wanted and sincerely expected that all of the politicians to come together and cut a deal. With this frame of mind, these idealists adamantly refuse to settle for any explanation of why seemingly well intentioned people could not rise above personal inhibitions and political intrigue to make the coalition total. They are angry and they have lost faith. No amount of explanation of the integrity of the meeting process would persuade them. I am not a happy man either. For one we are now going to have to contend with all the complications that the added fissures within the opposition would bring to a beleaguered and highly polarized electorate. I hope it can be avoided. My own view is we must adopt the old adage that when live serves you lemons, you try to make lemonade. We have a less than total coalition whose composition is unlikely to change even if another is reconvened. The differences between the parties are not bridgeable even in the long term. We can take the rest of September to argue in an academic sense on ways all of these players can be brought under one tent. It simply will not happen because these politicians are reflection of our larger Gambian Society. We are not known pragmatists. Disappointed and short of time, let us lick our collective wounds and forge ahead with our politics as it has crystallized. We can continue to argue and bicker and complain because it is our country and solutions we and the majority of our people have fought for are in some jeopardy. We list members too have our own preferences within the pool of parties and politicians and it is now our challenge to rise above ascribing motivations or being consumed by emotions. Let us resolve to work with the politicians on the ground we have access to in a sincere bid to ameliorate the problems brought upon by the fissure. It is in our collective interest that our respective parties emerge strong and vibrant after the Presidential elections. The oppsition in it's entirety have much more in common that divides them. While I support one from amongst them all, I would consider our democracy functionally inadequate without the full compliments of all it's constituent parties participating. Gambia would be simply better of with a parliament composed of competent people from all the parties in near equal numbers. Lets move forward and work doubly hard to remove this tyrant and murderer masquerading as a leader. He ought to be the focus of our ire. Karamba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------