The Compromise
by Musa Jeng, Atlanta
At a crossroad of any revolutionary change, there is always a need for a bold and
visionary leadership. It has become evident that our country found itself at that
crossroad, and is yearning for a bold visionary leader, to make the sacrifices and
give us the opportunity for change. As the General elections 2011 draws near,
many of us who see a united coalition of opposition parties as our only realistic
option to be competitive are getting nervous.
We are at the point that any extra day spent without a united front, is making it lot
more difficult to put an effective challenge against the APRC. The postmortem
has already begun, and there is already the talk of 2016 because 2011 is already
seen as a lost cause. Most people in the inside cannot see a scenario where
PDOIS, UDP, NRP, PPP and all the other parties can embrace and
enthusiastically launch a serious campaign against Jammeh. What is really
behind this pessimism?
For starters, we need to look at Agenda 2011, the PDOIs policy document that is seen as one of the solutions put
forward by PDOIS as their position for bringing about a coalition, and the opportunity to build real democracy in the
Gambia. In this document there are three key issues that one can see as fundamental in our search for a united
coalition: the selection method utilize to find a leader of a united front and under what entity; secondly, what kind of a
government do we have during this transitional phase and will the leader be term limited at the end of the transition;
finally, will this campaign be party driven or alliance driven whereby all partners sit on the table as equal partners to find
a consensus and together work to remove Jammeh and the APRC. Agenda 2011 solution is couch with a fundamental
tenet that the decision making for a united a coalition should be grassroots driven, and should not be left in the hands
of leaders or organized parties.
They argued that this exercise belongs to the people and it can be done through a primary to choose the leader of a
united coalition. They have made the argument that by only going to the people, we will be able to get the right leader
that people including APRC supporters will be willing to vote for. Since they rolled out agenda 2011, PDOIS has been
reluctant to sit down with party leaders to discuss a way forward for a united front because it defeats their own belief
that this needs to be done through grass root supporters rather than relying on leaders. Even though they have rolled
out this agenda almost two years ago, the general respond from the grassroots has been lukewarm at best, and to the
Diaspora, an important constituency for a united coalition, see the PDOIS method as ideologically driven and
unrealistic. As a friend told me, PDOIS is indeed losing the politics, and they are looking rigid and unwilling to
demonstrate flexibility for a compromise.
Now, UDP on the other hand, the party seen as the largest political party and since 1994 has demonstrated the ability
to pull over 30% of the electorate to vote for them, is also very much adamant with their own perceived position. Most
insiders will tell you that without a doubt UDP has the largest constituency and any united front will have to rely on the
UDP to be successful. Even though, they have not come up with a formal policy document to indicate their own position
for a united front, people are very much able to glean from their surrogates and party leader what their position is in
regards to a united coalition. They continue to argue that they see a UDP led coalition as the only realistic method if we
are interested in removing Jammeh. Their mantra is that, this is in accordance to international conventions, and all over
the world coalitions are done by using the party with the most support and bringing the smaller parties along to fight
against the incumbent. They have also gone further to make the argument that they believe that all parties should be
able to sit down without any precondition to find a formula for a united front. But again, preconditions from the UDP
basically means that everything is on the table except that it will have to be UDP led. As for a transitional kind of a
government, term limiting the leader of the transition and making the campaign against Jammeh as alliance driven
instead of a party affair, UDP has not been very clear and this is a concern to some observers.
What is the realistic compromise?
As an insider, I cannot see a scenario where PDOIS will ever come and be part of a UDP led coalition. After their
experience in 2006 and the aftermath, it will be very difficult for PDOIS to just go along with what most people think
should be considered if we are to come up with united front to confront tyranny. On the other hand, I cannot see a
scenario where UDP will go along with a primary scenario whereby an Independent person will be elected to lead a
united coalition, and expect the entire UDP party to throw their support. The only realistic option is to go back to the
NADD formula, this is one entity that was created as a neutral entity and basically belongs to all the opposition parties,
and can be used to launch a campaign against Jammeh. Maybe, the compromise is to bring back the memorandum of
understanding and make the necessary amendments that will accommodate the UDP principal concern, that the
leadership of any alliance should be the party with the largest support base. Secondly, the leadership of the alliance will
be the party leaders and the entire campaign and government after the election will be led by these leaders. This will be
seen as a government of national unity, a transitional government for a period of five years, and none of the leaders in
the government of national unity will qualify to run for the presidency in 2016. Their job during this transitional phase is
to focus on building the institution of democracy, shy away from party politics, also on the building blocks of the
Gambian economy and restoring our country in the international arena.
It is recommended that a summit be convened right away to table the NADD memorandum with the relevant
amendments. Time is of essence and I am hoping for the STGDP to adopt this formula as a last ditch effort to find the
compromise and give ourselves the opportunity to take our country back and give the next generation the opportunity
to build a better Gambia for all. It is recommended to organize a summit immediately, preferably in the USA and invite
the key leaders to come and be ready to make the final deal and launch the campaign to remove Jammeh in 2011.
MUSA JENG
ATLANTA
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GOD BLESS SHEIKH PROFESSOR ALHAGIE YAHYA AJJ JAMMEH
(PRESIDENT FOR LIFE.)
GOD BLESS THE GAMBIA
GOD BLESS APRC
DOWN WITH THE FAILED OPPOSITION
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