When Halifa said 'consensus', he does not mean consensus build around the conventional wisdom or standard practices of coalition politics but a consensus built entirely behind his own personal conviction. The language is a coded one and ofcourse above the pay grade of his disciples and defenders here. So am not surprise that they don't even know what they are talking about when they tried to defend Halifa's capricious and contemptuous absence at the Raleigh Conference here.
I also noticed that PDOIS's statement was actually fishing for reasons to justify Halifa's absence in the Raleigh Conference as this talk about exposing or deepening the divide was not mentioned in their letter to the organisers but built on Freedom Newspaper's ignoble, distorted and embellished report on the exchange between the UDP leader and Hamat Bah of NRP. PDOIS simply just moved the goal post to suit their desired narrative rather than what they foresaw before the conference.
I think it is about time these people are left alone in their indignant closet and let the rest of us move on in unity and a sense of purpose defined by clear objectives. Fringe parties tend to collect waifs and strays alone the way and that means we can't avoid having certain people coming here to basically try to make things fly across the face of commonsense in defence of PDOIS.
Thanks
Daffeh
On Saturday, 25 May 2013, <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> "At this point there are so many divergent interest; and
> notwithstanding the fact that people want a restoration of democracy,
> the motivation f'or the different interest persuasions are real and
> people who share the same interest persuasions will solicit with others
> and solidify their positions in any conflict situation."
>
> This is exactly what I feared. There is a conflict situation right in front of our eyes. And there is no glossing over the truth that we all have divergent interest, an interest that is motivated by self, by greed, by creed, by belief, by ideology, by ethnicity and other persuasions. This is our reality. There is nothing wrong with having divergent interests and all these interest motivations, but at this crucial period in which we are trying to find a democratic response to our political challenges, the rearing of the ugly head of these divergent interest can derail, trivialize, marginalize and stop dead in its tracks any effort to bring about a meaningful change.
>
> I can understand the logic in PDOIS's argument, and it is not as complicated as others would want to make it. Its conceptual basis derives from a fundamental argument that there should be a consensus among the opposition political parties, and this consensus should form the basis to create a platform that will bring all the opposition political parties under one umbrella. This consensus building cannot be imposed; it should be arrived at by the opposition political parties through the nudging, influence and support of the Diaspora Gambians. And it should start in the Gambia.
>
> At the moment there is a consensus among the opposition political parties in the form of the G6. But the agreements of the G6 and their points of reference is quite different. Even then there has been cracks in their unity of purpose, and not all of them agreed to non-participation in the national and local government elections. So there needs to be a lot of work done with this opposition grouping, and they should also be in a position to elevate the discussion and move the agenda to a broader question of a unified political group to contest elections, and to choose one person as the leader of the opposition-unity in the Gambia.
>
> Can the UDP, NRP, P.P.P., GMC, PDOIS and other opposition parties come to a consensus to build a unified political front under one entity to contest the 2016 elections, and can they choose one among them or someone outside their political parties to lead this project? This is the question.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Haruna <
[log in to unmask]>
> To: GAMBIA-L <
[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sat, May 25, 2013 9:42 am
> Subject: Re: [G_L] PDOIS explains its Absence in Raleigh???????????????
>
> So unite the partisan diaspora first, then seek to unite the partisan residents!! Very funny. And life will wait for you as you complete uniting the diaspora to move to the resident partisans. Allahuwakubaru!!! Kejau has spoken.
>
> Haruna.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kejau &
lt;[log in to unmask]>
> To: GAMBIA-L &
lt;[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sat, May 25, 2013 5:34 am
> Subject: Re: [G_L] PDOIS explains its Absence in Raleigh???????????????
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
> PDOIS seem to have a genuine reason to not attend the meeting as per their letter to the organizers. Their point seem to be that the organizers should take heed from the recently concluded successful London conference where no political party was invited as that may expose and deepen the divide rather than help bring the opposition together as intended. The conference should have aimed to unite the diaspora and when all the disparate groups in the diaspora unite, then we can invite the opposition to join us, among other things.
> Thanks.
> Kejau
>
>
> Sent from Samsung Mobile
>
>
>
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Modou Nyang &
lt;[log in to unmask]>
> Date:
> To:
[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [G_L] PDOIS explains its Absence in Raleigh???????????????
>
>
> Lamin and others, i will respond to your questions Saturday or Sunday.
>
>
>
> From: Sariang Marong &
lt;[log in to unmask]>
> To:
[log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 7:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [G_L] PDOIS explains its Absence in Raleigh???????????????
>
>
> Demba
> Thank you for keeping us abreast. You guys are doing a superb job. Again thank you.
> Wa Salam
> Sariang
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 24, 2013, at 11:14 AM, Demba Baldeh &
lt;[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> The PDOIS received a letter from the organizers of the Raleigh Conference inviting the Secretary General of PDOIS to a Conference to be held in Raleigh North Carolina from the 18thto 20th May aimed at deliberating on strategies and tactics on how to effect peaceful change in the Gambia .
> The Central Committee of PDOIS met to review the invitation and came to the conclusion that two preliminary steps are necessary before such a meeting could take place in a manner that would yield the desired results of a national consensus on strategies and tactics for peaceful political change. First and foremost, the opposition at home had to arrive at a consensus on the way forward at the meeting or convey the wrong impression that they are so divided that they could not forge a United Front for Democratic change. Secondly, the Diaspora also had to meet and develop a consensus on the way forward failing which opinions could be so divided at the meeting that theway forwardcould become illusive. Read more @
http://gainako.com/?p=841
> Consensus VS. Compromise.... take it away!!! folks
>
> Demba
>
>
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