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ebou4th
USA
106 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Feb 2008 : 21:56:17
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Why did the People loose Faith?
Gambian opposition party supporters tend to blame the APRC administration for most of their failures, the bitter truth supporters of opposition parties need to swallow is that none of the current leadership is strong enough to face the APRC machinery, the elephant in the room is not the APRC it is lack of strong inspirational leadership. Unless the opposition addresses this issue they will keep loosing miserable to the ruling party. Real change and a new strategy should first and foremost start with addressing leadership issues within the opposition party leadership.
The Gambian people have ceased to believe that the current opposition can bring about any meaningful change. This is real reason for voter apathy and that is why I call the current opposition parties a “spent force”. They are weak, divided and have no clue. Gambians have ample reasons to loose faith in leaders who cannot set aside personal ambition for the benefit of the common good. How can the opposition expect Gambians to have faith in leaders who are both power hungry and self serving? If the opposition party leaders cannot put the interest of the Gambia first and set aside petty and selfish political ambitions then they deserve to loose. If the leadership does not have the foresight to see that only a united opposition can confront the challenges that Gambian politics is facing then Gambians should not put their faith and trust in them.
The current leadership style of MASLAHA, timid, this too shall pass will not work under the current political climate. It goes without saying that the opposition party leadership needs a facelift. Constantly blaming APRC is will not solve the many blunders that the opposition parties made. Can Gambians afford to wait and see if the opposition leadership will set their individual ambitions, egos and difference aside, come with a plausible strategy or are we going to demand them to honorably step aside and allow a new breed of politicians to take the helm? Waiting for the next election cycle is a non starter because it is self evident that Gambians have lost faith in the opposition and it is quite understandable why.
Our dear nation and its people need a different style of leadership, a leader who can feed us with flurry of progressive policy ideas, a selfless leader who can unite a polarized nation, a strong and an inspirational leader who is capable of restoring, renewing, reviving, and reclaiming Gambia’s destiny. It is high time for a new generation of leadership, a new generation of leaders who can inspire Gambians to first of all believe in ourselves and tie those believes to a higher purpose of selfless service. Public service has a higher purpose; the goals for public service should not be self-serving. It seems most of our politicians do not comprehend the real purpose of public service.
Gambians need a leader who can show us together we can do great things, the issues that bind us out weight the issues that divide us. We deserve a new generation of leadership. A selfless generation that is ready to be part of something bigger than themselves. A generation ready to change the course of history of our beloved country. This call for change transcends political ideology for I believe all progressive minded Gambians should by now see a need for change in the way our motherland is being govern. There is something fundamental wrong with a system that has no separation of powers, no respect for the rule of law and a horrible human rights track record.
It is high time we select leaders who believe in human rights and a political system that does not allow one person to have too much control. It is time for leaders who are not too power hungry to believe in term limits. We need real authentic leaders who can turn the tides in our political system.
While under the rule of the British king the founding fathers of the United States of American learned that it is dangerous for one person to have too much power so they devised a system that provided three separate but equally powerful branches of government. The separation of powers allows for a system of checks and balances within the government. Each branch is given certain control over the other two, which balances the power and keeps the potential for abuse of power in check. It takes courage and strong leadership to institute changes, this is the type of leaders that The Gambian needs. We need leaders with foresight, fortitude and most of all the pure interest of the country at heart to bring changes and change the tides in our motherland.
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“Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.”
Kwame Nkrumah
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2008 : 18:07:39
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I think you should have tee shirts with this written on it and send it to Gambians in the diaspora.
"the elephant in the room is not the APRC it is lack of strong inspirational leadership. Unless the opposition addresses this issue they will keep loosing miserable to the ruling party. Real change and a new strategy should first and foremost start with addressing leadership issues within the opposition party leadership." |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2008 : 21:13:24
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Gambian opposition party supporters tend to blame the APRC administration for most of their failures, the bitter truth supporters of opposition parties need to swallow is that none of the current leadership is strong enough to face the APRC machinery, the elephant in the room is not the APRC it is lack of strong inspirational leadership. Unless the opposition addresses this issue they will keep loosing miserable to the ruling party. Real change and a new strategy should first and foremost start with addressing leadership issues within the opposition party leadership.-Ebou4th
I don't believe this is the case. I believe the problem lies on lack of adequate funding for the opposition coupled with the political environment that the APRC has created. People look at the resource level of the APRC, the leverage they have over the misuse of state resources and institutions including the police, the Army, the NIA and the civil Service and say to themselves 'I cannot go through all these troubles of illegal arrest and indeterminate detention if we are not going to achieve anything against him'. We can help mitigate this problem by doing what the Senegalese diaporians have done in 2000, that is, by rallying all Gambians around the main opposition party and then mount an aggressive fund raising campaign within the four corners of this globe. This is the only tangible solution. The idea that there is a ‘Messiah’ out there, who is not within the existing opposition circle, is an inconceivable myth that will not be allowed to fly across the face of common sense at any given time, either now or in the future.
Thanks
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 02 Feb 2008 22:14:56 |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2008 : 21:36:39
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| I too remember an old pa who was on a visit telling me that it is all right for some of us to sit down here in outside world and clamor for change and agitation .He added that no one wants to bell the cat turned to a lion albeit our common failure to stop this unwanted morphing aforesaid.We all are in it though and up to the neck one way or the other the strain is being felt by even some of those who support the regime .They do at times get caught up in the tangled webs of the dictator and suffer.we shan't gloat but then there you go if we hang on and believe it is others who will suffer only to be rudely awakened that way and then those whom you thought to be at the expected receiving end would if uncharitable ,say Gaadi daf ko moye!.Alas the cycle keeps turning and the suffering has no border or boundary .I pray that god saves us all because to me it seems we do need a miracle to sort us out |
Edited by - kaanibaa on 02 Feb 2008 21:51:30 |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2008 : 21:41:41
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Karamba Touray's article matches by statement above. SEE Senegambianews.com below.
Karamba Touray, Florida, US
Without the benefit of the official word on turn out in the just concluded local government elections, it issaving to say that the overwhelming majority of the electorate did not bother to show up. This is in addition to the fact that more than half of the council seats were not even being contested contention at the time of the polls resulting in the de facto coronation of whoever emerged out of the sleazy APRC selection process.
All in all a few thousand people have in effect given a façade of legitimacy to an exercise that was purposely designed to consolidate dictatorship. It began with the Presidential election when the number of registered voters who did not show up far exceeded the margin Yahya was purported to have won giving him a plurality of the vote but nowhere near the majority of the electorate. A similar lack of enthusiasm prevailed in the Parliamentary elections that followed, producing a similar lopsided victory for the APRC delivered by the same minority of voters directly invested in the regime.
A preponderance of the electorate has been progressively disengaging from the political process from one election cycle to the other even as the parties they support continue to remain engaged. The result is that continued engagement in the face justifiable gripes of blatant unfairness by the parties have left their supporters and natural allies dispirited and unwilling to digest, much less pursue the dual track of railing against a rigged political system while simultaneously participating in it.
It is true that political parties opposed to the regime are in the enviable position of having to balance the need to nurture a fragile democracy under very adverse conditions in which they face a regime that routinely uses murder, intimidation, abduction and torture as instruments of government and the apparent aspirations of their supporters to participate only in a free and fair system. After all, Gambians have an admirable history of big turnouts ever since they got the franchise and the current trend tracks with the extent of deterioration in the overall political environment. Recruitment , funding and campaigning have become arduous undertakings and impossibilities in most communities as goons associated with the government from police officers, soldiers, immigration officers, N.I.A agents, governors, district chiefs, Alkalos and pretty much anyone who can wrap him or herself with the ubiquitous APRC flag associated, relentlessly hound opposition supporters.
By design and conduct, they have made peaceful participation impossible and the effective disengagement of the majority inevitable. This is what has produced the situation in which our people are effectively withholding the mandate to govern from all participants, and since Yahya and his associates are only interested in clinging on to power, a 20% turnout as it looks like was the case in the just concluded election would be an affirmation notwithstanding a dubious one at that. Consequently, I believe it is time for political parties to examine the strategies they have pursued so far in confronting this tyrant and dictator to reflect the position that the majority of the Gambian electorate has taken in disengaging from the political process.
It is abundantly clear that continued participation in elections in which the rules and institutions that are meant to safeguard its integrity have been so thoroughly emasculated would be an effort most voters won't reward. They will continue to stay home and effectively concede the country to Yahya and his cronies. The next phase of the battle has to be singular in purpose, focused in pursuit and revolve around mobilizing the vast majority of the Gambian people who have had it with this mad man. The mobilization would not be for purposes of participating in one fraudulent election after another but to engage in a sustained de legitimization campaign that would be designed to compel change. The people would be told what they instinctively already know and that is - Yahya Jammeh has ceased their country together with their dignity and prospects for a better future and his conduct has amply demonstrated that he will persist in his ways.
He has also made democratic change impossible, warranting the need for parties to refuse to participate in any election until all institutional deficiencies are fully addressed. In the meantime, the minority of voters who support APRC can then have their fraudulent political arena to themselves leaving the majority perched on the moral high ground and leading the charge for the change our country desperately needs. The contest for our nation's future needs to be fought on clearly delineated lines as opposed to the muddled approach associated in participating in a flawed process that our own people have demonstrably rejected.
I call on my party and others to provide the requisite leadership to move the struggle in the direction our people have amply indicated. Fight in the courts, mobilize the grassroots and tell them you have gotten the message and that you will not participate in any elections because they are inherently fraudulent and that you will insist on change.
Yayha Jammeh can't win a protracted contest with the majority of the Gambian people and his fate is as predictable as any tin pot dictator that has sullied this earth. That not all parties opposed to Yahya would go along with this fundamental shift in strategy is not a good reason to reject it. Parties that refuse to calibrate their efforts to reflect the wishes of the majority of our people would secure no advantage for themselves by choosing to continue dabbling in fatuous exercises that prolong the awful predicament of our people.
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 02 Feb 2008 21:42:29 |
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ebou4th
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 03:11:08
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Nyarikangbanna
Do not forget in the first round of the 2000 presidential election, held on February 27, Wada took second place, by receiving 31% of the vote. Wada's victory was not only due to the political savvy Senegalese Diaspora it was due to the selfless act of other opposition candidates like Moustapha Niasse. The other opposition parties had the foresight to let go their personal ambitions and place the interest of their country first by uniting behind WADA. You see our Cousins changed their government through unity. His victory was due to the support of candidates from the first round, mainly Moustapha Niasse who was the third candidate in that historic election.
When Wade became President on April 1, 2000 he appointed Niasse as his Prime Minister shortly afterwards. Wade had to initially COHABIT with the PS, which held a majority in the legislature until the PDS and its allies (the Sopi Coalition) won a majority in in the April 2001 parliamentary election.
Hope you see a clear difference between the Senegalese politicians and ours. While I have the utmost respect for the opposition leaders and their suppoters, I think they lack the fortitude and foresight to elevate themselves and see past party politics. Party politics has failed us miserably and mostly every Gambian is paying for it. Come on Nayri, how many times did the opposition parties have the opportunity to establish a united front to bring about changes but failed to do so. They had a perfect opportunity during the presidential elections and blew it, second opportunity came couple of months later during the National Assembly elections and again they blew it and finally during the recent local government election. What is it going to take? If they don’t get it the past three times when will they? This to me is like allowing your child to take the common entrance exams 10 times and still hope the 11th one will make a difference. Sooner or later you have to accept secondary school as an option.
It is very obvious that the current leadership cannot come together so your tangible solution is not so tangible. The idea that it might have to take some one outside existing opposition circle should not be an inconceivable myth but hope that should be entertained and encouraged by all progressive minded Gambians. There is a serious political impasse and it might take some one else outside the existing opposition circle to break this cycle of loosing. We should not be blindly loyal to one person and one party; we should be blindly loyal to our motherland and our goal of effecting changes. By stating that “The idea that there is a ‘Messiah’ out there, who is not within the existing opposition circle, is an inconceivable myth that will not be allowed to fly across the face of common sense at any given time, either now or in the future.” Shows that we have not learnt anything from our failures, the old ways did not work so we should entertain new ideas, the old ways of blindly supporting an individual and a party has led to failures. We can keep doing this over and over again and it will only show that Yahya la duwa leah be jabering.
My brother, it does not take a ‘Messiah’ it takes leaders like Moustapha Niasse who are ready to be part of something bigger than themselves. It takes leaders who are willing to sacrifice their personal ambitions. That is what we are lacking in Gambian politics. It is not going to take a ‘Messiah’ Moustapha Niasse is not a Messiah he is an ordinary Senegalese who sacrificed his ambition for his motherland. It is going to take ordinary Gambians like you and I to fund and support a united party, but the opposition has to get their act together or the Diaspora will be forced to look past them. God will not land in Banjul and make a miracle; we have to make the miracle happen. The miracle will start to happen when Nyarikangbanna or Dbaldeh picks up the phone and says “kayo or Mawdo” we have all made mistakes and our old way did not work so how can we work together and achieve our common goal? This is what it will take to break the cycle. By the way guys vonage has free calls to UK.
How about this; let us all become Messiahs and start by mending fences, the issue that bind us out weight the issues that divide us. Ultimately we have a common goal, achieving this lofty goal should be our ultimate priority.
The party politics has polarized the opposition and infected the Diaspora, not only is the opposition divided we in the Diaspora are divided. What is it going to take to see the light? APRC is thriving on the lack of unity; the APRC machinery is doing everything to have the level of Diaspora support that the Opposition is enjoying. The Diaspora needs to call for changes if we do not call for changes how are we going to break the cycle? The opposition cannot expect the type of support that the Senegalese Diaspora gave to their opposition parties when it is crystal clear that only a united opposition can defeat APRC. If they make the necessary sacrifice I believe Gambians in the Diaspora will rise up to the challenge.
My bother we have to cross this Bridge together. Hopefully all of us have taken the time to reflect and think about what is at stake here.
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“Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.”
Kwame Nkrumah
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Edited by - ebou4th on 03 Feb 2008 08:16:46 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 13:40:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Nyarikangbanna
Karamba Touray's article matches by statement above. SEE Senegambianews.com below.
Karamba Touray, Florida, US
I tend to disagree in its totallity and not an endoresment of your statements above. Karamba Touray conclusions demand NEW STRATEGIES, FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN STATEGIES, MORE AGGRESSIVE MILITANCY, LEGAL MEASURES, MORE RESOURES , MORE RESOURCEFULNESS, UNITY, A BATTLE FOR A FAIR LEVEL PLAYING FILED FOR ALL, THE NEED FOR THE REQUISITE LEADERSHIP TO MOVE THE STRUGGLE IN THE DIRECTION OF OUR PEOPLE (i.e. THE BIGGER PICTURE and not PARTY POLITICS/PROXY WAR/EGOES AMONGST other stumbling blocks.) INORDER TO ADDRESS VOTER APARTHY. I must commend Karamba for putting his house in order; for calling on his party (and others) to provide the REQUISITE LEADERSHIP! Refer to the following quote from Karamba's conclusions to pick the MESSAGE from certain KEY WORDS AND CONTEXT.
The contest for our nation's future needs to be fought on clearly delineated lines as opposed to the muddled approach associated in participating in a flawed process that our own people have demonstrably rejected.
I call on my party and others to provide the requisite leadership to move the struggle in the direction our people have amply indicated. Fight in the courts, mobilize the grassroots and tell them you have gotten the message and that you will not participate in any elections because they are inherently fraudulent and that you will insist on change.
Yayha Jammeh can't win a protracted contest with the majority of the Gambian people and his fate is as predictable as any tin pot dictator that has sullied this earth. That not all parties opposed to Yahya would go along with this fundamental shift in strategy is not a good reason to reject it. Parties that refuse to calibrate their efforts to reflect the wishes of the majority of our people would secure no advantage for themselves by choosing to continue dabbling in fatuous exercises that prolong the awful predicament of our people.
Other relevant links and related;
i) Bantaba Gambian Politics topic; ARE THE ELECTION RESULTS A SIGN OF POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR OR REJECTION OF THE APRC? under http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5384
ii) Bantaba Cultural forum topic; a cultural parable, Talking trees under http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5369
Finally Nayaringkangbana, did you forget that all your concerns (predicament of opposition parties and mobilisation of resources accross diaspora) were pioneered and addressed by SAVE THE GAMBIA DEMOCRACY PROJECT ( S.T.G.D.P) prior to general election 2006; culminating in creation N.A.D.D and its M.O.U for tactical basis.
Thanks to Ebou Conteh!
C.U. Later!
PEACE!  |
Edited by - kobo on 03 Feb 2008 14:22:45 |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 14:25:23
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Ebou4th
You have very valid observations. If I'd put it in fewer words the most important move we need as a nation is to reocognise the political defect and to rectify it first and foremost. The one big defect of our political order is to do with the political environment itself. From July 1994 coup the poltical fabric has been destroyed. None of the opposition parties is giving serious attention to this major catastrophy. Unless that is rectified NOTHING else will work. Unfortunately our politicians are busy wanting to take over the reigns of power without a stable political environment. If any party is to win by votes, it is a matter of inheriting a bad political order. In short the most important task now is to recognise and rectify the political defects. Political leaders are simply part of a body in the whole dispensation of their duties. Our politicians see themselves outside of that framework. They perceive themselves as THE THING and everyone must work on building and defending that personality. Unless we pay attention on where attention is needed we are moving nowhere. |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 16:47:02
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Nyarikangbanna "don't believe this is the case. I believe the problem lies on lack of adequate funding for the opposition coupled with the political environment that the APRC has created." and how much would be adequate, i do not even see the opposition as starting off, they say no money, but what would they spend it on , has ANYONE WORKED OUT A BUDGET FOR AN OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN and if I remember rightly wasn't there a time when there was some serious in fighting from the opposition??
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 19:42:14
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Lack of funding is a very lame excuse. The fat elephant under the bed is lack of direction and setting of priorities. By making money the highest priority at the cost of failing strategies turns everything a heavy slap on the soft cheeks of opposition politicians. They only have to rob their cheeks for yet another hot slap the next round of things. Money is the last thing in this situation. To make it appear big is making backward motion with same energy, same speed. Bet you, give the opposition all the money and this problem stays where it does. |
Karamba |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 22:56:03
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Thank you Ebou4th for your comments. Please be reminded that I for one have not and will never give a blind loyalty to any individual or party. In fact by loyalty is to no individual but to a party and should in case you don’t or want to know which party, it is the UDP. I have stated my reasons for this time and time again. So, please don’t get us into that game of pettiness and down grading personal integrity and status thing. Let me now begin to address your points.
’Do not forget in the first round of the 2000 presidential election, held on February 27, Wada took second place, by receiving 31% of the vote. Wada's victory was not only due to the political savvy Senegalese Diaspora it was due to the selfless act of other opposition candidates like Moustapha Niasse. The other opposition parties had the foresight to let go their personal ambitions and place the interest of their country first by uniting behind WADA. You see our Cousins changed their government through unity. His victory was due to the support of candidates from the first round, mainly Moustapha Niasse who was the third candidate in that historic election.’ –Ebou4th
So the issue is not about lack of an inspiring leadership. Thanks for conceding. To the point now. No, I won’t forget that President Wade took 2nd in the first round but can I also remind you that the most important factor that influenced Moustapha Niasse to play a second fiddle to Wade was because of the electoral strength of the PDS [Wade’s party]. He had embraced the political reality of the time that although Wade may be short of the votes he needed to defeat Diouf single-handedly, with reinforcement from him and other opposition parties coupled with the sense of unity it would generate, they can push Diouf out with ease. He did this without asking for a guarantee for his own political future even though there were still some element of political animosity between him and wade and he had his own presidential ambition as well. If you sincerely examine this point and relate it to the Gambian situation, you will undoubtedly find that those who suppose to do this sacrifice are not UDP. So far, only Hamat Bah have done so despite the fact that he and his party carry more political weight than any of those individuals who are refusing to embrace the idea. UDP can only compromise on policy and composition of government but not leadership. Leadership is a right that has been delegated to them by the electorates and only the electorates can take it back, not fellow opposition parties or figures. No main opposition party has ever done that anywhere in this world. They are certainly not going to be the first. If anybody gives you a different impression, he/she is fooling you. You can take this to the bank.
Come on Nayri, how many times did the opposition parties have the opportunity to establish a united front to bring about changes but failed to do so. They had a perfect opportunity during the presidential elections and blew it, second opportunity came couple of months later during the National Assembly elections and again they blew it and finally during the recent local government election. What is it going to take? If they don’t get it the past three times when will they? This to me is like allowing your child to take the common entrance exams 10 times and still hope the 11th one will make a difference. Sooner or later you have to accept secondary school as an option. – Ebou4th
Come on Ebou4th, you know why it couldn’t happen. There was a tireless effort on the side of others to sideline the UDP leadership on the flagbearer issue. Right from the beginning, that is 3yrs before Flag bearer issue, every thing the UDP had proposed had been crudely rejected. They proposed party-led alliance, response, No!. They said NADD should not be registered because it would land us in legal trouble, response, we don’t care, we will. This cost Hamat Bah his seat. They [UDP] compromised on all these against their principles and policy and yet some lightweights wanted to take them for granted because they had their way on numerous issues before. They never reciprocate the good will that the UDP had shown in the interest of unity. Some said; it will be ‘all but Darboe’ [ABD] while others said ‘they’ve only just come into politics now, we have been here for decades. We cannot allow them to lead us’. But the truth is, UDP’s massive support base [compared to other opposition] would not come on board if their very own chosen leaders are being alienated. This is what other opposition figures tried to do and that is why nothing worked. They have not put aside their egos and personal ambitions, have they? So, why are we not turning our guns on them and see if they would come to terms with the reality that UDP leadership in any future coalition is an indispensable necessity. Shall we try doing that one now, Shall we?
’It is very obvious that the current leadership cannot come together so your tangible solution is not so tangible. The idea that it might have to take some one outside existing opposition circle should not be an inconceivable myth but hope that should be entertained and encouraged by all progressive minded Gambians. There is a serious political impasse and it might take some one else outside the existing opposition circle to break this cycle of loosing. We should not be blindly loyal to one person and one party; we should be blindly loyal to our motherland and our goal of effecting changes. By stating that “The idea that there is a ‘Messiah’ out there, who is not within the existing opposition circle, is an inconceivable myth that will not be allowed to fly across the face of common sense at any given time, either now or in the future.” Shows that we have not learnt anything from our failures, the old ways did not work so we should entertain new ideas, the old ways of blindly supporting an individual and a party has led to failures. We can keep doing this over and over again and it will only show that Yahya la duwa leah be jabering.’ – Ebou4th
This will only muddy the waters more. Bringing a perceived ‘Messiah’ would not result to other opposition parties not contesting on their own platforms. UDP in particular, would see it as another ploy by those they perceived as small parties to undermine their political credentials. It will only result to over-crowding the lake and consequently, less fish for the opposition and Jammeh will still hold on to his barracudas. So clearly the unity you called for will never be attained in this way.
UDP is always looking at precedents around the world to support their case but whenever they look at the case presented by their opponents, they don’t see any precedent for it anywhere in this world, and please don't tell me it is because Gambia is preculiar because it is not. The UDP always interpret this as lack of respect on the part of the small parties towards them, and they are absolutely right. Can we work on that as well?
I know am edgy with the facts and I have no apologies for that, but it is important that we think about what is realistically achievable and then apply tangible solutions towards its attainment. That is the only way we can break this stalemate. Cutting corners or spinning crude logics about will not do. What is being asked of the UDP time and time again is simply untenable and it is not going to happen. Can we achieve any of our goals without their blessing? Certainly not.
About me and DBaldeh being on the phone conceding to our mistakes, just forget about that. It will never happen. I appreciate that I am not infallable but I am also without doubt that I have comitted no mistake on this issue. I never thought so before and I still don't believe so.
Thanks
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 03 Feb 2008 23:47:05 |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 23:17:02
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| Seems reasonable to me that the other parties join UDP even if it is a tactical union and see how things work out,It is not helpful to discount this option too.But then I guess this is the choice of the various parties to make .Korri konto leko laye!If the mountain won't go to Mohammed ,Mohammed would go to the mountain;let some one sacrifice his stand for the greater good .If it did not work they can try something else.We can only try |
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ebou4th
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2008 : 02:18:04
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Posted - 08 Feb 2007: 22:13:52
Ebou, are you prepared to accept and support a party led alliance since that is the only legally possible one we can think of if other party identities are to be preserved? Nyarikangbanna
ebou4th
Nyarikangbanna thank you for your question: I am willing to support any alliance that has the potential to bring change in The Gambia.
Nyarikangbanna
Given that Party led alliance is the only form of coalition subsisting in law, will you then agree with me that an alliance reminiscent of the UDP/NRP/GPDP Alliance is the only way forward and that efforts should now be made to group all opposition forces in that sort of grouping?
Nyarikangbanna, we have been down this road before about a year ago. Like Kaanibaa said what the UDP is asking is quite reasonable but if the last two elections are anything to go by then I think it is fair to conclude that the current leadership cannot forge a Party led alliance. If a party led alliance is not possible do you think it makes sense to fold our hands and watch APRC dominate Gambian politics for another decade or are we going to call for something new and different? I stand to be corrected but I doubt the current parties can get their acts together. This is why I am calling for new strategies and possibly new leadership for the current ones have failed us. If it takes supporting and encouraging the sudden rise in independent voices then that is what we ought do. |
“Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.”
Kwame Nkrumah
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2008 : 14:07:27
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quote:
Originally posted by ebou4th
Posted - 08 Feb 2007: 22:13:52
Nyarikangbanna, we have been down this road before about a year ago. Like Kaanibaa said what the UDP is asking is quite reasonable but if the last two elections are anything to go by then I think it is fair to conclude that the current leadership cannot forge a Party led alliance. If a party led alliance is not possible do you think it makes sense to fold our hands and watch APRC dominate Gambian politics for another decade or are we going to call for something new and different? I stand to be corrected but I doubt the current parties can get their acts together. This is why I am calling for new strategies and possibly new leadership for the current ones have failed us. If it takes supporting and encouraging the sudden rise in independent voices then that is what we ought do.
Ebou4th, Thanks for your comments and once again, thank you for conceding that what the UDP have asked for is quite reasonable. I think you need to be reminded that the reason why a party-led alliance has not been possible is because others have said that as part of their party policy, they will never be led by another party or individual from another party. One of the opposition leaders [Halifa Sallah] has even regarded this as helping someone to become an elite, and made it an entrenched personal principle that it will be something he would never do. But we know that UDP leaders are established elites in their own rights. So clearly, this paranoia is inconceivable. And the funny thing about this is; nobody has ever attempted to assert any pressure on them to depart from this paranoia and control-freak attitude, certainly not by any diasporan commentators and so-called goodwill negotiators. All the pressures are being piled on the UDP even though what is being asked of them is unrealistic and untenable. This is what has exacerbated the problem. There is a great deal of disinguinity among our so-called concerned Gambian diasporains particularly the intelligentsia,and this has been giving a great comfort zone to the likes of Halifa Sallah not to worry about making compromises. It is only when we redress this problem that we can make progress with this unity agenda. You don’t desire a Gambia without President Jammeh as leader more than Ousainu Darboe or Hamat Bah. These people have made more personal sacrifices in the fight against the dictatorship more than any of us shouting on the internet. So don’t tell me they don’t desire unity.
About the so-called new agenda, I have said above that it will not result to existing parties not contesting on their own plate forms. You know, we are all Gambians and we all have a right to seek public office but that does not mean that those who are already seeking for it would just give-up once a so-called new strategy with fresh leadership emerge. Do we have the power to disenfranchise them? certainly not. That is why I said it will only result to muddying the waters more with little fish to catch while Jammeh continue to hold on to his Barracudas. This is the reality. If party-led alliance cannot work, it is because we haven’t pushed for it.
Thanks
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 04 Feb 2008 14:17:23 |
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ebou4th
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2008 : 14:27:14
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What we need is honest brokers with no party affliation, these brokers should get to the bottom of the split and look at all the leaders in thier face and tell them the truth. Do not underestimate the defeat that was handed to the opposition, it might bring some sense into our leaders. What we cant do is sit and wait till 2010 and rush to get back into politics.
If honest brokers failed to unite the parties then we should seriously look past the current opposition. If we dont we will once again gurantee another APRC victory. |
“Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.”
Kwame Nkrumah
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 13:31:03
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quote:
Originally posted by ebou4th
If honest brokers failed to unite the parties then we should seriously look past the current opposition. If we dont we will once again gurantee another APRC victory.
Ebou4th, but they will still be around. won't they? So, you are not really solving the problem. You are just running away from it. This is what is called 'the African shovel'. One step forward, two steps backwards. It doesn't work, has never worked and will never work.
I agree with you though that we need honest brokers to break the stalmate, not the likes of UGAMA proponents who will come here to demean the UDP leadership only to turn the next day talking about unity among Gambian diasporians and opposition in Gainako blog. That is certainly weired, isn't it?
Thanks |
I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 05 Feb 2008 13:45:54 |
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