Dear Saiks, Glad that we are at the threshold of agreeing to a framework of analysis. It is extremely necessary that we set out on a firm basis. That will make the discussion more enligthening. Just to address few things before embarking on my second part, understand Power and Politics here to be referring mainly to how a person/s is/are able to both establish himself/themselves in a secure position to rule, in this case, a country, and at the same time enjoy the undivided confidence of the ruled or the led. If at all and according to the way you put it, that Gambia would have had a different story to show to the World if the President had kept to his promises, then that would enough not fit into my ideal society. I can only qualify it under the category of my No. Two Hypothesis. Remember, I have defined Power Base as the "degree of popular support" and the "ability to maintain stability and cope with opposition". Yes, one can rightly conclude or expect that, if the Gambians had had course to enjoy from those beautiful hopes as declared by the President, then the regime would certainly would have a resonable degree of popular support from the people - again as I define it. I now ask. Is that really enough? Does that make the opposition dormant? Does that deter outside threat? I mind, does it say much about how dynamic a regime is to both outside and inside forces? Certainly not. Under such circumstances therefore, Gambia wouldn't have still been stable, so to speak. It is how concious we are to addressing these factors together as a whole which is crucial to my ideal type of society. So, perhaps if you had mentioned that the President wanted to look after the peoples' welfare and also indicate and justify why the President sees it fit to fortify himself so as to continue satifying the task of looking after the peoples' welfare, then that could be considered to fit into my ideal type of society that would ultimately bring about stability. I will labor, as I progress, to detail further with my own examples how this can come about, I will be looking at questions such as what the role of opposition should be and that of those who wish to bankrole such an opposition in my ideal society. I am to inform you that most of political societites in Africa do not share characteristics of my ideal society. I would wish to reintroduce my opinion on Political Maturity in relation to colonialism and the Monicagate issue. They may either implicitly or explicitly appear in the discussion as we proceed. I will throw more light on them later. To be continued..... God blesses us all for a better world. Alieu ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------