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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Aug 2006 : 22:31:14
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Note: this is article has been re-developed to accommodate other issues raised in Halifa's lengthy letters. Please read on. The debate is yours, not mine.I don't want to be decieved. Do you?
Once again Halifa has exhibited his arrogance by completely ruling out party led Alliance even though it is crystal clear to everyone that the NADD formula is simply unworkable. His claim that a propose UDP/NRP/NADD Alliance would be illegal is not only wrong but absolutely silly. There is no clause or provision in the constitution that prohibits the creation of Alliances. What is barred is individual MP membership of two or more parties.
The reason why NADD Alliance ran into trouble with the law last time was because it was registered with the IEC under an electoral law that was only applicable to political parties. That is why the Supreme Court had to construe their registration as amounting to registering a political party. This also meant that NADD MPs had to be expelled from Parliament not because of the registration per se but owing to individual membership of two separate and registered parties [their original parties and NADD]. Alhagi Ousainu was not suggesting a return to that scenario. In fact he warned against it in the first place. All what he was saying was lets come together in a party led Alliance and fight APRC. That was what happened in 2001 and they never ran into trouble with the law.
Halifa’s response to the UDP/NRP proposal that the election be governed by the present constitution is absolutely ludicrous and very well misplaced. No matter what we do we still have to inherit the constitution that gives what Halifa calls Monarchical powers to the president in the event of victory. It would be practically impossible for the present constitution to be abrogated the next day after victory. In fact, that would be a treasonable offence punishable by death. If that is what Halifa is advocating, then he should be arrested and charged for incitement to commit the offence of treason against the state of the Gambia. We still have to wait for a National Assembly to be constituted three months after the presidential election before any reform can be put through. In that interim, we will have no choice but to live under the dictates of the present constitution. That doesn’t mean Alhagi Ousainu will be going around imposing alkalolu and Seyfolu on us. In fact he fought vigorously against such practices in the past. We all witnessed it. The man does not only speak as a politician but also as a Barrister. He knows the law just like his own name. In fact he is undoubtedly one of the best lawyers in the Gambia. This is something not even APRC supporters would hesitate to acknowledge. So let Halifa stop fooling himself. This man is not his match when it comes to Law.
The UDP/NRP has offered a constitutional Review regime through which a credible constitutional reform that could give rise to a viable and sustainable democracy with an embedded culture of state respect for individual rights and freedoms in the Gambia can be achieved. They pledge a constitution review commission whose mandate among others would be to hold consultation with Gambians so as to determine what sort of constitution they want, not what Darboe or Halifa wants. They would then present a draft to our representatives in parliament who would scrutinise, amend or adjust if necessary, and then ratify it. It would then be sent back to the people for approval in a referendum. Certainly, no one acting with conscience and integrity can rise his/her finger up and say this is not a standard democratic practice. Those who think Gambians are too intellectually inferior to determine their own destiny have deluded themselves. The UDP/NRP alliance very well knows this. That is why Alhagi Ousainu stated: ‘It is our belief that only the Gambian people can determine how the affairs of this country should be administered and all other actors are to abide by the dictates and the will of the people.’
Forget about the notion that the president should not seek a second term and the one term limit NADD is obsessed with because they are simply not democratic norms. These are just protectionist agendas designed to safeguard the fragile political carers of those who entered into mainstream Gambian politics through the rear thanks to the UDP election boycott. If you ask most Gambians, they would say we want a two term limit. That is what UDP/NRP subscribed to because that is what represents the wishes and aspirations of most Gambians. Besides, that is the trend most democracies are moving towards and Gambians do not want to be left behind.
We all know that the most effective way to bring about a peaceful political change in Gambia is through an effective opposition. It has been said over and over that none of the opposition camps is capable of doing this job alone but it is also acknowledged that the probability of the UDP/NRP pulling off the plug is far greater than that of NADD. This was clearly manifested in the Kombo East Bye-Election. Yet we have that Halifa Sallah effectively calling on UDP/NRP leaders to resign from their parties and join his own, as the only basis for unity. Where on earth have anyone heard or seen a Leader of the biggest opposition party resigning his post to join another opposition party? I think we now have a choice to make; we either allow Halifa’s crude logics to continue flying across the face of common sense and let Jammeh win or take the only option of expanding a UDP/NRP alliance to include NADD under the obvious candidature of Alhagi Ousainu Darboe and oust Jammeh. The latter is very simple and contrary to Halifa’s ramblings, it involves no legal complexities. It doesn’t need to be registered because you don’t need to register an alliance under the existing electoral laws and no member of parliament will loose his seat because no one will be required to be a member of two or more parties or to resign from his party. So it is just that simple.
The problem our nation is faced with today is the self perpetuating rule of Jammeh and the dictatorial tendencies coupled with it. Think about the frequent and unwarranted arrests, unlawful detentions, false imprisonments, disappearances, torture, Press muzzling, flouting of court orders. You name them. We certainly will not have any of these under a Darboe led government. He is just not the type you can associate those kinds of things with. The biggest political threat to all these nastiness is the one pose by UDP. That is a fact. What is also a fact is that, the threat needs re-enforcing and that is where the other parties are needed most. What we now need to do collectively is to follow the footsteps of Hon. Hamat Bah and his NRP party by way of re-enforcing that threat in the form of creating a UDP led party alliance. Once the job is done and there is a Gambia without a president Jammeh, then we can take charge of our own destiny and then decide how we want our Seyfolu and Alkalolu to be chosen and the type of check and balances we want to see in our political system. Halifa and Co can be the check and balance within government in order to ensure that everything goes as planned. By doing this, NADD is not helping anybody to become an ‘Elite’ because Alhagi Ousainu has already acquired that through his profession, and they are certainly not helping any one to preside over the subjugation and misery of the people because UDP/NRP have proposed a constitutional reform regime through which Gambians can determine their own destiny. All what they would be doing is enabling Gambians to take charge of their own destiny. What is nobler than that?
The idea that UDP could be put under pressure in order to force it to return to NADD as orchestrated by OJ is fanciful. That will never happen. They have made it clear that they do not subscribe to a supra-party style alliance or what Halifa called an umbrella party. They want an alliance in its natural sense as understood by the world that we live in. That is what Gambians called for, not the type imported from Mars.
If you look at NADD’s MOU, a document they have now given a semi-gospel status to, there is no mention of creating a party or if you like, an umbrella party. It spoke of creating an alliance between the various signatories mentioned therein. We thought events that led to the supreme Court’s recognition of NADD’s status as a party and not an alliance was borne out of a reckless indifference to a sound legal advice voluntarily given by Lawyer Ousainu Darboe but we are wrong. What we now know, thanks to Halifa’s recent letter, is that this was a premeditated move by PDOIS Quartet [that is, Halifa, Sedia, Sarr and the White Land Rover], designed to achieve the very result the Supreme Court Ruling has delivered. This is obviously perverse and a complete grotesque. Yet those behind this clandestine activity do not want anybody to mention Mistrust as a reason for their leaving even though it was clearly evident. Who are they trying to out-smart? Perhaps Halifa’s fanatical and inept thinking disciples.
Nobody is asking NADD to join the UDP. In Fact, UDP don’t want that because that would mean they would have to let that despicable Lamin Waa Juwara back. I am sure they would say ‘No thank you’ to that. All what is being said is; let them come and join a UDP led party alliance and fight the APRC misrule. This does not provide any room for trivialisation for Halifa to exploit in the advancement of his obsession with media advocacy and struggle for greater personal recognition in Gambian Politics.
Halifa can have his opinion but am sorry UDP/NRP does not buy them. What is so serious about that is the UDP/NRP represent over two- third of those who want Jammeh out. Clearly a snub to their call is also a snub to the voice of a very good number of Gambians who aspire for change. To my utter surprise, the snub is coming from someone whose lyric is always ‘sovereignty of the people’. This man is behaving more like a Tibetan Political dissident fighting against China’s Membership of the WTO than anything else. He should be told to learn how to accept real facts or leave Gambians alone.
If it is education, UDP have twenty or more Halifa Sallahs. If it is principle, they have hundreds of Halifa Sallahs. If it is good character, they have thousands of Halifa Sallahs. If it is Arrogance, well we all have it in our own ways but for now let’s keep it to ourselves and allow this project to go ahead. If NADD and Halifa are not up for a compromise, then the rest of us must begin to engage the people by explaining to them the issues at stake. It is not about competition among the opposition personalities. It is about creating a collective and workable strategy to oust Jammeh so that Gambians can be at liberty to determine their own destiny. In a nutshell, it is the plight of our nation Gambia and her people which is the issue here and that is why the political wrangling must now stop. Time is simply not on our side.
‘The problem is Jammeh and the solution is vote Darboe’
SS Daffeh, UK.
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 15 Aug 2006 : 22:58:07
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Its not between Halifa nad Darboe. Its about uprooting Jammeh and APRC and we want the opposition to unite. Darboe is fit but give due respect to Halifa also in Gambian politics. He have been offered several poltical appointements which he rejects if that government existed against his principles. I would love to see Darboe lead any alliance if that would result to dismantling APRC and dislodgement of Jammeh from public office. Stay cool guys and let's be reasonable with ourselves. I believe also that Halifa is deeply interested in any negotiations and deal to handle the political sitaution with Darboe (UDP, Hamat (NRP) and any other opposition capable of doing so. Lets continue to encourage them to unite as thats the way forward! You are either Jammeh and APRC or opposition. If you are opposition its better to unite against Jammeh and APRC. Don't you think so, Nyarikangbana
Ningbaara! |
Edited by - kobo on 15 Aug 2006 23:04:59 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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dbaldeh
USA
934 Posts |
Posted - 16 Aug 2006 : 01:26:37
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With all the rangling about NADD, UDP/NRP and what not, let me ask a simple question. Who in their right mind would ever stand and say I don't want to be a part of you, but you can forget everything I did or said and join me? This stand is so insulting to civility that only young children playing together will utter such words.
It is equally insane for any political party to stand in this era of political reality and ask for unconditional support without an explanation. It is absolutely rediculous for people supporting UDP/NRP to have the got to stand up and ask NADD to join them without an agreement. Gambians are just so sick and tired of political opportunism by people who don't have a clue what they stand for.
Under what agenda is UDP/NRP going to face the voters and ask for their votes? Would you say don't ask, don't tell just vote then we will talk about it later? Or would you just go and criticize anything about Jammeh and offer no alternative. Even political dummies will not act this way. This is so degrading to say the least. What a human tragedy. Start hiding now because Jammeh and his boys will not relent. Gambians are the losers because of political immuno-deficiency. Who is Nyarikangbanna trying to deceive after years of stalling? I cannot help it, but brush aside such a low level political stand. This is really sad. We deserve better...
Peace |
Baldeh,
"Be the change you want to see in the world" Ghandi
Visit http://www.gainako.com for your daily news and politics |
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BambaLaye
USA
100 Posts |
Posted - 16 Aug 2006 : 03:33:49
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Baldeh:
Don't sweat it. SS Daffeh and his ilk are those who had their head stuck in a heap of sand; you come to offer them water to rinse, they'd blindly knock the water off your hand in despair.
Time and history shall salvage them hopefully.... |
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