Hi Bamba, I fully agree with you,and I think we are addressing the same concerns in the same light. I appreciate the fact that Jammeh needs to refine his tone and be very selective for his choice of words. Any head of state that needs to win the respect of the people both at home and abroad needs to develop diplomatic tact.For no country can afford to have a leadership that would be deemed offenssive for the things he says. It may be easy for Jammeh to say whatever he wish in any form or shape, but he should be made to be aware that, as a head of state his audience are not just at home. Whatever he says is reported around the world, hence the need to be selective in choice of message and word. The media after all is very sensationalist and would be eager to seize upon anything that would capture the headlines. And Jammeh with his approach at the moment is god sent for all the hype he generates. To avoid giving the impression that Gambia is being led by an immature leader I hope and think that the leadership will reflect upon all public statements, and ensure that they are palatable for universal consumption. The type of crude and raw language that was or is typical of Jammeh ought to be replaced with something more refined, diplomatic and worthy of a head of state. After all Jammeh has already been in the job for seven years and should be aware that statements of threats and harassments will only generate a lot of media reporting and that does no good, but only creates anxiety as well as tarnish his image. By and large I do agree that Jammeh needs a lot image building, for it cannot serve any purpose, if he is being constantly quoted as issuing threats to kill people. I think, evenwheras he does not mean to do so, to avoid controversy and misunderstanding he should refrain from making such apocalyptic remarks. I hope some form of training will be provided for him, so that he can define the bounds of what he can and cannot say. At the moment he seems to have a laissez faire attitude towards the things he say. As for the use of the term, my this, my that, you must understand that Jammeh learnt all these from Jawara. He seem to think that the country and all its contents belong to him as a head of state and that is why he goes about my, my ,my not appreciating the fact that it is the people that pay direct and indirect taxes to enable him to build those projects. With a little bit of understanding he would have appreciate this fact but then it was historical circumstances that created Jammeh. It is not as if he was a seasoned politician who was aware of the needs and aspirations of the people. He came into politics through the back door with a set mind and an agenda, hence we should expect a lot of short comings. Nonetheless, we should try to influence his personality and direction, after all failure to do this can only antagonise him and this will yield no fruits. I hope people understand and appreciate the term constructive opposition, we must try to out witt Jammeh and no pursue him on his remarks. We should treat his statements with a pinch of salt, afterall Jammeh is an extrovert who loves the limelight and there si nothing we can do about that. I hope from now on we shall focus on the things he is doing, if they are good and improving the living standards of the people, then we can be proud that as an opposition we are doing our job as the nation's watch dog. If he renages on his promises, we can still hold him to account by constantly exposing him. As well as doing this we should have an agenda for progress, an agenda that would drive for mechanisation of agriculture as well as linking agriculture to industry . An agenda for job creation and self sufficiency. An agenda for more democracy and the respect for the rule of law. An agenda for people centred development programmes, in a not shell we should be proactive in our opposition and talk about the issues. After all Jammeh is not the issue, he just happens to be the protagonist in the whole theatre. And being in such a commanding role people are confusing him as the power, whiles the power rest with the people and that is precisely why people went to elections so that they can dettermine who will lead them. If we can demarcate and distinguish wherin lies the power then we can know who our target audience is, for our audience must not be Jammeh and that is precisely the mistake by many, instead of focusing on addressing the people we constantly make Jammeh the subject reacting to his statements and just belabouring on them constantly. In other to be formidable we must cease trailing after Jammeh and devise tactics and methods to dilute him. After all soon will come the parliamentary elections and the opposition needs it now more than ever to strategize in other to ensure that the house is no longer a rubber stamp for the executive but an active institution that will initiate and monitor all erstwhile programmes. These are the sorts of issues we should elaborate upon so that the Gambians may benefit and we desist from the politics of parochial chauvinism, nihilism and fatalism. >From: Bamba Laye <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Malik>>Re: Joe Sambou: call for restraint on abusive adjectives >Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 12:08:46 -0500 > >Mr. Kah, > >I agree that discussing the issues is what will help to portray the >opposition in a better picture at this time of the resistance tothe tyranny >we have back home. One of these issues is Jammeh's personality as a head of >state. You will undoubtedly agree that he is arrogant and sometimes beyond. >As a head of state, such personalities has rippling effects on every aspect >of governance,thus indirectly to daily life in Gambia. Disecting and >analysing such characteristics in ahead of state is a well founded approach >to removing decadence in ours'. By doing so, no one is claiming to have the >answers. We are only trying to understand what we see and hear. >Check this out, he - Yaya Jammeh - pres >ents himself as the state, the >government and the APRC (Arrogant President Ruling a Country). He, on many >occasions, utters scornful and condescendingly proud invectives such as 'my >hospitals', 'my schools', 'my roads','if you don't vote for me I will make >sure you suffer'. Do you honestly think that his personality should not be >an issue? The same goes for those very close to him, those who take the law >in their own hands without much done about it. They see themselves and act >like they are the authority because they are "loyal" to Jammeh and >thus "patriots". >The cleansing has to start with the personalities - personailities that >determine how a leader will succeed in bringing everyone together for a >better and prosperous nation. > >My Opinion. > >Good day to you. > >Abdoulie A.Jallow >(BambaLaye) > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> > >To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>