Dear sister Jabou! Mentioning the pdois executive member here, means dealing with a circle, that circle’s social consciousness transcends any narrow ethic sentiment. It’s rather unfortunate you associate my observations with phony ethnic discord. Pdois’s ethnic composition is one of the most balance in Gambia’s political divergence. Looking at the executive members is evident enough to that effect. The founders of pdois live beyond tribal sentiment, at a time when Sedia was nominated the first presidential candidate for pdois, it was not on tribal line. It is better for us to be less sentimental in this kind of discourse and concentrate on key facts presented. Wollof adage, Bul baggne nyu yeckal laa chi gallu haj yai bulnangu nyu feka ngai chi lecka (being judgemental). Sister Jabou, if making a broad base comment about your beloved party translates into one being label a rat, then i am happy to embrace the rat race. Obama is one in the U.S context and many honourable folks are rats according to your view point. I have not in any way try to pacify or please crowds about my views, neither do i look for acknowledgements, so sister i will continue to indulge my hobby come rain or shine. In-fact, the next thing i wish to do is analyse the economic propositions of PDOIS. Reserve the strongest damnation for me please. As Jesus Christ told a baying mob wanting to stone a prostitute to death: “let the one who is free from sin cast the first stone”. I commented about the executive members of PDOIS involvement in campaigning for the speedy return of our country to democratic rule, yet, the junta utilises the oversight of the learned brothers to their advantage. Since when did Africans start trusting soldiers in a state house? The fault line extends not only to rampage PDOIS but also the newer parties that join in the carnival atmosphere without effective scrutiny of the constitution. Today, the talk is about uniting the sokolon opposition, yeah, that is a unifying stance, but the stance has all the potentials to fail. When leadership aspirant hide their true interest in boldly declaring their hearts content for the sake of wanting to be seen as less power hungry, discord will unravel our good sister. Such fault line needs fixing first, then the talk can be about how to choose a capable candidate to lead. Let all those who wish to lead throw their hats in the ring, instead of waiting for the last minute and highjack the process. Don’t blame me for spreading discord; my fingers are too weak for that. Mandinkas would say, kuu siya titi. Still our disagreement on this topic ends on this subject. I will continue to enjoy your insightful postings whenever time permits. Mbalen jam. Good night --- On Sun, 18/1/09, Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Suntou's Mission to Foster Discord!! To: [log in to unmask] Date: Sunday, 18 January, 2009, 11:59 PM Suntou, I would not be surprised if you eventually lay full blame on PDOIS for all the atrocities that Yaya Jammeh's murderous regime has brought to bear on our people, infact, I would say that you have almost completed the job with this one. The question I have for you is this. If we were to be daft enough to suppose for a minute that the twisted information you are attempting to peddle were true, then we must ask where then were all those other supposedly illustrious, intelligent and presumably innocent sons and daughters of the land who surely must be smart enough to not have been fooled to buy into a flawed constitution? I wonder why they did not save the day. Instead, they joined in the melee and organized (new) alternate political parties and proceeded to not boycott elections. You know Suntou, as I follow and catalog some of your (all supposedly humble opinions) messages, I cannot help being reminded of those who slowly but ever so deliberately, stoked the fires of discord that eventually led to neighbours who have lived together for centuries taking up arms to cut each other down in places like Rwanda, Kenya etc. I am also reminded of a Wollof saying about the little mouse that nibbles your feet right to the bone without you ever feeling it and before you ever know it because it blows ever so gently on your feet after each bite. That is my humble opinion and very keen observation. Jabou Joh -----Original Message----- From: SUNTOU TOURAY <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 1:45 pm Subject: How PDOIS Misled Gambians over a Flawed Constitution 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 n aively 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 constitut ion 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. 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