NCP Press Conference On Wednesday 15th August 2001, the NCP called a press conference at the residence of SM Dibba in Banjul. S.M. Dibba started by saying that the Executive of the NCP deemed it absolutely necessary to meet the press to clear the air on certain things that are being said about him and the party. He further said the NCP had been in a limbo for the past 7 years because the barring of political activities came into effect on the 22nd July 1994. He then went on to submit that himself and the party had been quiet all this time because they do not want to bring civil strife in the Gambia as it is just a tiny country with a population of just a little over 1 million; that as a political organisation that had never been their desire. He said we have all seen the cripples of civil strifes in our sub-region; that as at the time of the coup, the NCP had known the military was very much hungry for power; that if the NCP had confronted the military at that time it might have led to instability in the country. That the Gambia is more important than the leadership of the NCP; that but some people thought that the leadership of the NCP was intimidated just as cowards. He said this is not so; that it is because they do not want to plunge this country into civil strive; that for them they very much had the country at heart. That after the lifting of the ban they had very much welcomed the un-banning of the GPP, NCP and the PPP on the 22nd July 2001; That he then had a meeting with representatives of other political parties as to what strategy they would take to face the APRC government in the coming election. That it had then come to light that the GPP was not going to reactivate it self before the election; that they were not going to contest the presidential and National Assembly elections; that in any case it is very clear going by the 1997 constitution that the leader of the GPP Assan Musa Camara is quite over the age limit of 65 years for a presidential candidate; that the PPP said they were going to register but that they are not going to contest the presidential but that they are going to participate in the National Assembly elections; that as the leader of the NCP, he had made it clear to them that he was interested to contest for the presidential seat and the National Assembly elections. That the NCP was in existence for the past 25 years; that it was founded in 1975 and that he was also one of the founding members of the PPP in 1959; that among the few who were the founding members of the PPP were him self, Dawda Jawara, the late Jambo Bojang and Sanjally Bojang and the late Famara Wassa Touray of Gunjur. That of course it is common knowledge that he had served as vice president, minister of so many ministries and an ambassador of the Gambia in the EU. That also coming back he held the position of minister of economic planning and industrial development. That he then broke the relationship with the PPP and formed the NCP. That since then the NCP was very steadfast up to the 1994 coup. That after the unbanning of the NCP, GPP and PPP, they all agreed at a meeting that the idea of having a coalition of all opposition parties to have a single presidential candidate against the APRC, was very good. That all of them supported the idea. This was why they had a meeting at the YMCA in Kanifing on Monday 13th August 2001. That unfortunately the PDOIS were not present because they were not formally invited. That the NRP was not also there because their leader was out of the country. That present at the meeting were the NCP, PPP and the PDP; that Assan Musa was unanimously selected as the chairman. That the purpose of the meeting was to select a candidate for the coalition in the fourth coming elections. That as he had said that since the GPP said that they were not going to contest the presidential elections because of the old age of the leader and the PPP also said so because of the fact that their leader was out of the country and that it would be hard for them to have another presidential candidate; that he had made it clear to them at a meeting but as he said before that they all agreed to have an inter-party consultation before so as to agree on a single coalition presidential candidate. That on the 13th August when they met at YMCA they all accepted that Assan Musa bet the chairman and not a representative of the GPP as he had informed them earlier that he was not going to reactivate the GPP; that the NCP, PPP and PDP were the parties present. That OJ and his friends of the PPP suggested Ousainou Darboe as the coalition candidate and Badara Sidibeh suggested him (S.M. Dibba). That there was a stale mate as the PDP did not take side with any party. That the PPP suggested that they would want to have an in-house meeting with the UDP. That since that was what they decided excluding them, they from the NCP decided to leave; that before they left he had asked Assan Musa that they must not hold a press conference without them; that Assan had promised strongly that they will not do so that the next day he saw in the Observer that SM Dibba and the NCP delegates opted out of the coalition meeting. That it was incorrect to give that impression to the press; that all he knows was that they were unable to agree on a candidate since OJ suggested Darboe and some one suggested S.M. Dibba. That the PDP’s leader abstained and Assan Musa was not a party representative but chairman. That it is better for the press to know that well before the YMCA inter-party meeting on 13th August, the UDP had sent colanuts all over the country telling the Nation that Ousainou Darboe had already been selected as the coalition president. That they had gone to the meeting with a preset mind that Ousainou Darboe would have to be the presidential candidate or no body else. That they had not registered the NCP because they were waiting for the inter-party meeting but since there is no agreement on the coalition, they would get the NCP registered and make their stand clear to the nation. That if any body knows the history of political parties in the Gambia the NCP was the longest serving opposition party before the 1994 coup; that they have been silent because they are not position seekers; that they are not hungry for power. That they have respected the law when they were banned and never wanted to create any instability in the country. That the members of the NCP had joined the UDP and voted for them in the 1996 elections and even in the last bye elections, the people of Central Baddibu voted in a UDP candidate, where he himself was contesting. That the people of Central Baddibu would ever be loyal to the NCP. He questioned where is the UDP has a political base? He said not in Nianis and not any where. That the NCP has an edge over the UDP; that it would be easier for the NCP to dislodge the APRC than the UDP through the ballot. He further questioned why the PPP is so keen to have the leader of UDP to lead the coalition? He again said we all know what transpired in this country. He repeated the question and asked why Ousainou Darboe got up at the meeting to say that he is not a front of the PPP. That no body had said in that meeting that he is a front of the PPP. That he was the one who said: Ousainou Darboe is not a front of the PPP. That his question was only why the PPP was so keen in having Ousainou Darboe as leader of the coalition. To say that the UDP has been struggling for the past 7 years, Mr. Dibba said, there is no party in this country that has struggled more than the NCP. S.M. Dibba then went on to the history of the aftermath of the 1981 coup. He said that he was arrested and incascerated for 11 months, charged with treason, treasonable felony and misprison treason. That 55 witnesses testified against him but in the end he was acquitted and discharge. That not less than 500 people were arrested and detained; that most of them were NCP members. That they were detained for months and years; that some of them even died in detention. That so for any one to say that there is any party that has struggled more than the NCP cannot be true. During questioning from the press, SM Dibba agreed that there is the need for a second round of meeting among the opposition since some parties like PDOIS and NRP were not present. He also said that they have gone to the meeting with two agendas: 1. That should in case the parties were unable to agree on a consensus, then all parties can contest; that in the event there is the need for a second round then they can collate against the APRC. Mr. Dibba agreed that in the event there is another round of inter-party meeting, it would be ideal for political parties to send their party’s agenda to each other before the actual meeting. That the doors of the NCP are open to any body for future consultation for another coalition. The members of the NCP Executive who were present at the press conference were Badara Sidibeh, Alhamdu Konteh, Majanko Samusa and others. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------