Dear Opposition Leaders: I would like to thank Mr. Momodou Camara for suggesting that I use my judgment in reprinting repeated messages to the opposition leaders in The Gambia. Mr. Camara, after careful thought, I have decided to continue on with the pattern. For those reading the same messages daily, I suggest that you delete my mail if you are tired of reading it. This struggle continues with full swing. This reprinted message is a daily reminder about the need for a true alliance. July 22, 1994 marked the day our country was transformed into a nation of captives by the military, led by yahya jammeh. Within the last seven years, The Gambia went through a system that no Gambian should be proud of. A police state in The Gambian has set the clock back for our country's integration in global economics and other essentials of political development. A military dictatorship politicized its ignorance and lack of respect with unsound and unprudent economic decisions. Jammeh has indeed preyed on the selfish who abandoned their principles and seeked opportunistic tendencies in their thirsts for power. Some Gambians during the early stages of the coup embraced this new revolution without quantifying the relative danger that a military would exhibit on its citizens. In these periods of ignorance and lack of understanding with the realities of political judgment, many became amazed with the new leader's apparent policies of developments without fully understanding the value of quality over quantity. Some even became fanatical in believing that jammeh had embarked on democratic principles for the overall benefit of The Gambian society. What some failed to understand was that poliical intimidation and manipulative dictatorial style of the APRC government circumvented some regrettable incidents in our country's history. In evaluating the process of democracy and the full understanding of fair-dealing, equity and fairness, we in the opposition must clearly define our intended purpose in a profound objective sentiment. We must understand that the cries of Halifah, Sidia and Hamat are vital in our struggle. We must understand that those who have spoken loud and clear cannot and should not be left behind because of minor political differences. PDOIS, whether or not subscribes to socialism, is so minor a principle that its intellectual advocacy should be given consideration. Politics in reality should be interpreted on a notion of educating the electorate as to principles and ideas promulgated by a political party. Though this sound judgment may be opposed by some, we must understand that at this critical moment of our struggle, our priority is to flush out yahya jammeh and the APRC. It was really frightening that PDOIS was not invited to the coalition meeting. It is also disturbing after hearing from Hon. Hamat Bah, we must reconvene to map out strategies in our struggle to defeat the APRC. PDOIS' position in nominating a woman caretaker for a short period of time should be studied at face value. As long as we have NCP, NRP and PDOIS away from the coalition, we will fail to achieve our main purpose of setting The Gambia back on the democratic trend. It is of no value to blame each other for our failure in uniting the whole opposition. We must swallow our pride and take a rich Gambian culture in extending an olive branch to each other. We cannot let our emotions guide us at this critical moment of our struggle. I say to those that I disagree in principle, we have engaged in intellectual talk and no action. A house without a foundation will never stand. Will we invest in a bank while going in, some are taking their money out? Will we run in front of a fast moving car? Will we wait till the eleventh hour to study for a major examination? "Rome was not built in a day, but it was destroyed in a single day." Yahya jammeh has indeed destroyed The Gambia in a single day. My position is based on ethical values that serve as preambles in my consideration of life's substance. It is disburbing to read about the commencement of president campaigns individually by the NCP, NRP, PDOIS and UDP/PPP/Assan Musa coalition. I ask, why rock the boat? In a more realistic review of the strength of the opposition parties, I am afraid to pinpoint that we will not win come October as long as we have a divided opposition. The reality of this charaterization is that the entire opposition is helping yahya jammeh and the APRC government. It is uncompromising for one alliance to indicate that its doors are open to the rest of the opposition. This is not the rule of the game. A leader must have the wisdom and desire to evaluate political decisions base on fact and logic, especially at a time when the opposition cannot afford to divide votes. A revolution is reactionary in nature. Since the coup yahya jammeh has fallen out with most of his former comrades. It will be frightening to allow yahya jammeh to run The Gambia for another five years. Why then should we allow such a frightening thing happen? If this evaluation is indeed true, why then are we dividing our ultimate desire of freeing The Gambia? As children of God, we must seek the truth for a return to civility and understanding in The Gambia. A day will come when we the citizens of The Gambia, together with our desire to seek the interest of our country, will be saying in loud and clearer voices: "thank God we are free at last." We can only do this through equity, fair-dealing and truth. We must be sincere in our undertakings. We must evaluate our policies on objective interpretations that will provide us reasonable assurance in our desire for a free Gambia. This I believe, will be left with the new generation of Gambian politicians whose advocacy will be a reminder of true reconciliation. After our defeat, some of us will be researching collectively of the need to take this journey in freeing The Gambia. We cannot and should not be miles away and enable yahya jammeh to continue on with his style of leadership. For a successful continuation of democracy, history, politics and economics should be treated inseparably. Interestingly, these three disciplines are social sciences. If democracy is curtailed, there will be imbalances in all the sectors with an infrastructure. Our goal therefore, must be a symbol of our rich culture in defining a brighter moment for The Gambia. As I appeal to you to revisit and reconsider a true reconciliation. I am force to pay tribute to those innocent school kids who were killed by the military. I must pause for a moment and remember Mr. Koro Ceesay. I must ask why are Dumo, Lalo Jaiteh and other innocent Gambians still in jail? I must ask again and again why then should we not have a party of total unification? Why were so many Gambians killed? I then want to know why should we take different routes to flush out yahya jammeh? I also want to reiterate that I will not endorse non of the opposition presidential candidates if we do not have an alliance that does not include PDOIS, NCP and NRP. This will entail a boycott on my part as a Gambian citizen who will not be part of a divided opposition. In conclusion, I want to thank you for your noble efforts in setting a path to democracy. I know that our differences should not negate our desire for a democratic Gambia. May the prayers of our leaders germinate? May the cries of those innocent Gambians killed, intimidated, harassed and tortured be testament for the rest of us? Long live democracy and down with the APRC government. Naphiyo, Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh Greensboro, NC/Kombo East Constituency -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------