Ndey, Thanks for your response and I know we both want what is good for our country but I must say that I disagree with you that we do not need to spend time and energy trying to get the opposition to reconcile and to take the politicians to task if we feel that their actions may hurt the chances for progress, especially when it comes to the critical and very urgent issue of ejecting this regime before they do any more harm. The democratic process which we all want to depend upon to bring about not only a positive but lasting change in our country has at it's core, the ability and freedom to debate, the expression of individual opinions and the resolve to hold any politician seeking office to be wholly accountable to all of us and to engage in actions that will result in protecting the interest of our country and our people first. These can never be separated from the process, otherwise, we are only fooling ourselves into thinking that we are fighting for progress. In the effort to eject the APRC, nothing that may compromise this opportunity should be tolerated by the people and we must relay this message to the politicians because any action that increases the chances of the APRC staying in power spells another 5 to 10 years of doom for our country, and no Gambian should engage in anything that increases chances of that happening. A split in the opposition does exactly that. While it can be argued by both sides that the different opposition camps all have the interest of the country at heart, and some of them may even actually believe that they can win against Jammeh without coming under one united opposition platform, there is no doubt that the chance to eject the APRC has a far better chance of becoming a reality if the opposition alliance as originally organized under NADD stays intact. No one has taken any up to date, reliable polls that have taken into account all of the variables that have come to bear since the last elections to assure any camp a victory against the APRC. However, one united front can wipe Jammeh off the Gambian map and the very notion of it will also energize our people and give them the courage to say no to the APRC knowing that the collective force of a united opposition has a very good chance and they can feel comfortable throwing their weight behind it. The opposite effect of the split among the opposition is the chaos we are witnessing, with all kinds of uncertainties about where different politicians stand and whether others who were not necessarily part of the opposition alliance but whose subsequent involvement and allegiance had they seen a solid front in the form of the original NADD may have enhanced the opposition; but who are now making decisions that signal their confusion to say the least. We are also witnessing the fact that some who belonged to these opposition parties who have now split into two camps and who are not necessarily happy with the decisions that have been taken by some in their respective political parties are either being bought by the APRC or in limbo and no one knows where their allegiances will end up. There is no doubt that the decision by some people to split from NADD has given the impression that self interest is the order of the day and so now others are following suit. The other very important reason for the necessity of this discussion is to make it abundantly clear to all political aspirants that not abiding by any democratic process is something we cannot afford to sweep under the rung because anyone elected to serve in public office has to demonstrate that they will always abide by the rule of law and the democratic process which is really what ultimately ensures that government belongs to the people. There can be no exception to that and no amount of reasoning is a good enough substitute for that. This effort to unseat Jammeh is about the Gambian people being tired of our rights being hijacked and the resolve to put an end to it and this can only be done if the people insist without compromise, that those who have come forward to say they can serve in this capacity must be accountable to us and they demonstrate this first and foremost by keeping to the democratic process. We cannot afford the possibility that another Yaya Jammeh will come to power in our country so we cannot afford not to keep making the effort to bring the opposition together. Therefore, let all of us direct our energies towards the effort to have these opposition politicians come back to the NADD agreement so that Gambians can feel confident that they will be replacing Jammeh with people who will refrain from behaving like the APRC regime. My heart does go out to our people. It is time for some real leadership because we are so tired of serfdom and partisan politics which is the tool of those who have only their own interest at heart so their modus operandi to continue to pit the people together all the while claiming otherwise.. I hope the focus of this effort will be what is best for the people and the country as a whole and that is not something anyone has to guess at. Jabou Joh In a message dated 3/7/2006 9:48:17 A.M. Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Hi Jabou, I am not relegating your imput to personal attacks and personality politics because i made my point very clear. I agree with you on the point below but how much energy do we have to spend in getting these people back together. If these people represent the interest of Gambians i don't see what the problem is. So i guess one might rather direct its energy to a victory against AFPRC than a no win situation. Yesterday on GRTS news Mr Peters went to reconcile with Jammeh and when interviewd by the journalist he insist that he is still the Campaign Manager of UDP. He sound so confused that i myself got confused as to what his visit to the President was all about. I tried to read the papers to really understand why this guy went to reconcile with Jammeh but it is still not clear to me. One thing i believe is if we all believe in what we say and do i don't see the reason for the split. I agree with you this requires a lot of sacrifice and to add to it, it is a test for the opposition as to how prepared they are to save our nation. How much they have to give to make sure that gambians are free. The situation at home calls for sacrifice and dedication from all Gambians. The Struggle Continues!!! Ndey Jobarteh いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]