My humble analysis of events leading to 1996 elections.

Following the military coup of 1994 a Draft Constitution was drawn for Gambians to approve. Many at the time had no idea about the vital contents of the document under review. During that void period of ignorance and uncertainty the Executive of PDOIS went about canvassing for people to endorse by a ‘Yes’ vote. With expectations that PDOIS Executive knew what was at stake, majority of Gambians naively voted in favour of a totally bastardised Constitution.

Vital elements of the draft Constitution had already been sliced out of it and yet PDOIS political experts did not let Gambians know that. One such important input of the Draft Constitution was about the Presidential Term Limit. This was deliberately omitted and Gambians voted for a constitution that was to give any sitting president a blank ticket for life rule.

It may be argued that though the military knew what they were doing by intentionally deleting that good part of our nation’s book of rules, it was PDOIS Executives who confused Gambians more seriously.

The question remains as who to blame. There were good reasons why the military deleted anything to do with Presidential term Limit. There were better reasons why PSDOIS Executives decided to trick Gambians into voting for a constitution that was totally flawed.

The military at that time banned all political parties and believed the next election was a ready beef to bite and chew. Executives of PDOIS thought it was all in their favour being the only active political party operating in total defiance of military ban on all political parties.

Elections came in 1996 and results showed PDOIS further down rejection lane. Other parties could not heal the fatal wounds inflicted by the long spell of ban that kept them away from genuine politics. Since then the political atmosphere continues getting more and more imbalanced for any decent politics in Gambia.

For historical reflections, the Executive of PDOIS can now keep the crown for leading Gambians towards a political doom.