Folks, below was culled from the Point Newspaper. I am happy to see the UDP resuscitated. I am also happy to hear Juwara say that "there would be no second round in the forthcoming presidential election, arguing that the opposition coalition would sweep 65 percent of the votes in the first round." My question is how? What have they (UDP) done or calculated to come up with this prediction? Furthermore, there was "No Second Round" in the last Presidential Elections, so what are we talking about here? I also hope Juwara does not mean what I think he is saying, when he said, “We are telling them (other opposition parties) to come on board. Their chances of dividing the Gambian people is nil, absolutely." If my memory serves me right, is this not the same problem that paralyzed our chances of a viable coalition in the last presidential elections? That each party believed that the others "should come on board, their ship". I do not think this is a good start if there is going to be a viable coalition. How soon we forget. I hope I am wrong, but I am concerned with this posture of the UDP. Please read on. Chi Jaama Joe Sambou Monday, September 24, 2001 We Will Win On First Ballot - Juwara The National Secretary of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Lamin Waa Juwara, has said that there would be no second round in the forthcoming presidential election, arguing that the opposition coalition would sweep 65 percent of the votes in the first round. Mr. Juwara, better known as “Mbarodi,” was speaking Tuesday, in an interview with this reporter shortly before the nomination of the Coalition’s flag bearer, Ousainou Darboe. “There will be absolutely no second round. If there is a second round, then we have been betrayed by The Gambian people. I can tell you, I said we will win on the first round with a solid 65 percent of the votes. It might even be a conservative estimate,” Juwara told The Point. When asked what Tuesday’s nomination meant for the coalition, the UDP strong man had this to say: “Well, it is very important. As you can see on the ground, we have the majority of the people behind us and this is not just localised. It is across the country. I have gone to Niamina and Fulladu and visited every hamlet. I can tell you we are going to win the elections by landslide with a solid 65 percent of the votes.” Juwara argued, “The Gambia is sinking and that the people want somebody to rescue them. And we are prepared to do that.” Further quizzed what message he had for his colleagues in the opposition, Juwara had this terse message, “We are telling them to come on board. Their chances of dividing the Gambian people is nil, absolutely. You can see that even the NCP is on board... is part of the coalition. It is only Sheriff with a handful of people that have moved. But the people are here. Presidential Nomination Sponsors Per Administrative Area - As IEC Cautions _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~