Agenda 2011 Launched

By: Saikou Jammeh

Over a thousand opposition supporters yesterday converged at Latrikunda Yiri nganya Mosque ground for the launching of Agenda 2011, a strategic plan that calls for opposition parties to unite to effect a change of government come next presidential elections, 2011.

The architect of Agenda 2011 is Halifa Sallah, a sociologist cum politician who led the coalition of opposition parties – NADD – in the previous presidential elections held in 2006 amid a failure.

But Halifa argued at the launching that the failure of the coalition and other opposition parties in the last elections does not mean that the ruling party is popular as majority of voters refused to cast their votes.

Noting that since the government has amended the constitution to a ‘first-pass- the post system”, he said it is apt for the opposition to unite to march this pace come next year.

However, he stated clearly that strategies must be worked-out to ensure a fair alliance of opposition parties. It is against this backdrop that Agenda 2011 calls for opposition party leaders and even neutral individuals to go for primaries. Anybody who emerged winner will lead the opposition in 2011 with the support of every opposition party, he told the gathering which comprises mainly of opposition-National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) and PDOIS supporters.

None of the opposition parties has proven to have the potential to win the elections even in an alliance because the huge voter apathy that marred all general elections rendered the fate of the majority of voters uncertain, he said.

This situation, he added, requires the opposition to gauge the fate of the greater suffrage, through a primary.

And if anybody emerged winner of the presidential elections will have to engage in setting the stage for proper democracy for either 2 or 5 years and therefore stand-down “like Nelson Mandela” of South Africa did. He said he has been going round the country introducing to the people Agenda 2011.

National assembly member for Wuli West Sedia Jatta of the opposition-National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) declared NADD’s support to Agenda 2011.

The veteran politician expounded on the abnormalities going-on in the ruling party. He lamented on president Jammeh’s lordship tendency of telling Gambians that neither elections nor coup can remove him from office.

He said Gambians sacrifice their resources to pay the public trustees, including the head of state to manage their affairs; hence the people have the absolute right to decide who should rule them.