This is very scarry and disturbing. People being dragged out and beaten to death in Gambia and attacks on Gambians in Senegal with soldiers joining in as opposed attempting to stop this? This is clearly a case of pent up hostilities that have been brewing for a while and I think our youth also have their own frustrations that is manifasting itself in various ways. No doubt that bad governence, bad decisions, lack of expertise in diplomacy and political meddling has played big roles in this. We can pray that this sort of thing does not lead to more hostilities between Gambia and Senegal, but unless the incompetent leadership that does not norture relations but does everything to ruin them is replaced, we are headed for more trouble and how unfortunate that will be. This should be another wake up call to the opposition parties in our country to show Gambians that they are not motivated by a hunger for power, but by a desire to do whatever it takes to rescue our country in her time of need and to provide excellent leadership whatever that takes. They failed us during the last elections, let us hope they will not fail us this time around, but we must realize that we also have a role to play here. We must make demands especially when these same opposition parties are calling upon us ot help thm finacially and otherwise. It is time for these political parties to realize that in order for us to get out of this mess, a sincere coalition where who leads is not the issue, but how to join hands and form one solid front to get rid of the APRC menace is the urgent issue. A sincere and solid coalition of opposition parties will undoubtedly mean that people will have to sacrifice their egos and form a working group comprised of dedicated people from among the leadership of the different political parties to work towards what the main aim of a true politician should be, to put the interest of the people and the country first. Our country and people are dying a slow death, and we cannot afford any more political games fashioned by those who put winning first and the interest of the people last. Momodou Sidibeh raised an important point concerning this fund raising plan. We can collect money for a so-called unified opposition, but unless and until we lay out a clear path as to what defines this coalition and what we as the people expect from such an organization as a condition of supporting them, we are just headed for another round of politicking and another chaotic election campaign with time, energy and money wasted and another deviously orchestrated win for a brutal regime that is destroying our country and our people.If our opposition political parties fail to cooperate with each other to save our country this time around, then they would have demonstrated for us once and for all that their aim is self interest and not public service because our nation has never been in greater need of sincere and dedicated leadership as now. Let us work to remove the APRC menace first and this will hopefully enable us to eventually build a country where the rule of law will prevail and where subsequent leaders will be selected based on their competence and record and not on anything else. The situation is urgent and critical and how can nanyone who says they have Gambia's interest at heart focus on anything else when it is clear that a solid front is what will save us? Jabou Joh In a message dated 6/9/03 9:23:03 AM Central Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes:> > > Gambia blame fans for defeat > > Exclusive by James Copnall BBC Sport in Dakar > > Gambia star Seyfo Soley says his team mates struggled to concentrate on > their match against Senegal because of the incidents involving Gambian > supporters. > > Dozens of Gambian fans were injured in clashes with soldiers and Senegalese > supporters during Saturday's Nations Cup qualifier in Dakar. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~