Thank you Mr. Ndure. Much appreciated. Baba On Nov 4, 2017 4:18 AM, "Omar Ndure" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Baaba, thanks again for a well articulated piece. I do concur with you. > Indeed "WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO CHOOSE WHICH DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES TO EMBRACE > AND WHICH TO DISCARD". What an irony!!! > > -------------------------------------------- > On Fri, 11/3/17, Baba Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Subject: We Can Do This > To: "Community of Gambianist Scholars" <COMMUNITYOFGAMBIANISTSCHOLARS > @listserv.miamioh.edu>, "The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List" < > [log in to unmask]>, "wagmembers" <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Friday, November 3, 2017, 11:05 PM > > > > We Can Do > This > > By Baba Galleh > Jallow > > If you think democracy is hard, try > dictatorship. Try a > system where one man assumes absolute power, usurps the > rights of everyone in > the country, turns himself into a malignant god on earth, > kills innocent people > left right and center, has a horde of minions telling him he > will live forever, > and assumes a monopoly on what constitutes wrong or right, > truth or lies, > justice or injustice and wisdom or foolery. If you think > democracy is hard, try > a system in which a village idiot struts around clad in the > fake garbs of holy > piety, uttering confused noises and insisting on being the > most righteous, most > just, and most wise individual to ever walk this earth. Yet, > dictatorship, hard > and bad as it is, is much easier to manage than democracy. > That is because the > path to democracy is strewn with slippery slopes and > frightening corners that > threaten to crush and annihilate all that would walk towards > democracy. While > there is no easy path to freedom, as Nelson Mandela famously > put it, the path > to democracy is even harder as South Africans and > increasingly Gambians are > learning. > > Yet, we cannot afford to stop, or to > fail in building a > democratic culture in our country. We cannot afford to be > pessimistic about the > future of our country. We cannot afford to be afraid of the > slippery slopes and > frightening corners of democracy. We cannot afford to allow > the mistakes of the > past or the challenges of the present to derail the Gambian > renaissance. We > cannot afford to allow despots in exile and their minions to > laugh at us and > say we told you so. We have more than what it takes to turn > The Gambia into a > model democratic nation in Africa and in the world. But we > cannot afford to be > complacent or to imagine that democracy will just happen > easily, or that it > will happen just because we say it will happen. > > > It is not enough for us to declare > to the world that we are > committed to the principles of democracy, human rights and > the rule of law. We > must make sure that our lofty pronouncements of fidelity to > democratic ideals > are matched by fidelity to practical democratic actions and > steps towards the > actualization of a true democratic culture in our country. > We can start by > realizing that there that there are and there will be > obstacles and threats of > all kinds along the path, but also by recognizing that we > are more than capable > of dealing with whatever obstacles and threats may arise on > our path. We must > react to these obstacles and threats not with fear and the > knee-jerk reactions > motivated by fear, but with sensible and measured actions > whose outcome will be > success and a step closer to our desired state of democracy > and progress. > > We must realize that there are no > half-measures in > democracy. We cannot at once be democratic and undemocratic. > We cannot pledge > allegiance to democracy and act in ways that threaten to > derail our progress > towards democracy. We cannot pick and choose which > democratic practices to > embrace and which to discard. Democracy comes in an > indivisible package of the > good, the bad and the ugly and we must be ready to deal > consistently with all > of them in a democratic manner. A nation cannot be half > democratic, half > dictatorial. It has to be either one or the other. The > moment we start acting > in undemocratic ways, we expose ourselves to sliding further > down the path of > dictatorship because that is the much easier path to follow. > We must realize > that it is also the much more expensive path, the path to > destruction and > failure. And we cannot afford to destroy ourselves or to > fail. Small actions > that may be justified by reference to issues of national > security often > multiply in short order and become a mass of undemocratic > actions that > inevitably leads to the derailment of a democratic process. > We cannot afford > that in the new Gambia. And since we are more than capable > of avoiding a > derailment of our democracy, we must recognize the smallest > missteps we make > and correct them as a matter of urgency. > > The path to democracy is full of > annoying noises that we > must nevertheless listen to and manage with utmost care and > intelligence. Democracy > gives rise to a multitude of voices may have nothing > important to say, but that > may want to say something anyway because it is their right > to do so. These > voices are not to be shouted down or silenced. They must be > allowed to have > their noisy say in the democratic space. Yes it may be hard > to listen to > citizens who say things just because they have the right to > say things, whether > these things make sense or not, whether we like these things > or not, whether we > agree with these things or not. But there is simply no > alternative to allowing > them to have their say, and making the most of what they > have to say. The > challenge is to understand that becoming democratic > inevitably presupposes > becoming an unwilling interlocutor to all kinds of opinions, > some directed at > us, some directed at our critics, but all purportedly > directed at the quest for > a better common national space. The right of our fellow > citizens to free > expression of peaceful opinion, however uncomfortable it > makes us feel, must be > tolerated and protected as much as our own right to free > expression of peaceful > opinion is protected. > > The greatest obstacle to democratic > progress in Africa since > independence has been fear: fear of protests, fear of > critical public opinion, > fear of the truth, fear of losing our privileged positions > in society, fear of > being thought weak. All these fears inspire a strong desire > in us to do > undemocratic things even as we reaffirm our commitment to > democracy, human > rights and the rule of law. In a dictatorship, these fears > inspire a hatred of > all things democratic and the very concepts of human rights > and the rule of law > which insists on tolerance and civility. But these fears are > ill-inspired. They > should not exist at all in the democratic mentality. > Peaceful protests, > critical public opinion, the truth, and losing privileged > positions are all > part of the democratic process. And the democratic mentality > should not > entertain fear of the democratic process. The way to deal > with uncomfortable events > and processes on the path to democracy is to manage them > intelligently, not to > suppress them or paint them in the evil colors of the devil > out to destroy us. If > there is hard evidence of a desire or intention to > deliberately disrupt the > public peace, then we can legitimately step in to take > corrective action. In > the absence of such hard evidence, intelligent management is > our best option. > > Crisis is an integral part of the > democratic process and > must be managed rather than muted. Generally, efforts to > avert crisis through > undemocratic measures only leads to greater and deeper > crisis. We must believe enough > in the power of our human and Gambian intelligence not to > let fears, often > unfounded, to derail and subvert our democratic process. > Because that, > precisely, is what the enemies of democracy would like to > see. If a particular event > in our emergent democratic culture is perceived as a threat > to our national > security, we must do everything possible to make sure that > it does not in > reality pose such a threat, not by arbitrarily stopping that > event, but by > thinking intelligently about how to manage the event so that > it proceeds > peacefully as planned. The capacity to think in strategic > democratic terms > grows from the capacity to recognize that there is no easy > path to democracy, > and that ever so often, we may need to take action that is > both intelligent and > courageous, and never to take action or fail to take action > out of fear of > expressions of the democratic spirit. As Nelson Mandela > again reminds us, “To > be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to > live in a way that > respects and enhances the freedom of others.” We have made > some significant > steps in this direction, especially in our tolerance of the > former despot’s > party. But again, Mandela tells us, “After climbing one > great hill, one only > finds that there are many more hills to climb.” We can do > this. We must do it. > We cannot afford to fail. And we will not fail if we > recognize and embrace the > reality that there is no easy path to > democracy. > > > > > > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤