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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 23:07:37
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I wish to share with you the following as culled from The Point newspaper.
THE POINT NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
Flagbearer On National Assembly Motion To Condemn “21st March Abortive Coup
Thursday 13th April 2006
With reference to the above-captioned subject, the NADD Flagbearer, Hon Halifa Sallah, had this to say.
Compatriots, reports have been published in the Gambian press on the position of the NADD parliamentary opposition regarding a motion introduced by nominated member Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay, on 3rd April 2006 to call on the National Assembly members to condemn the abortive coup of 21st March, 2006.
Compatriots, the reports in the press contain ambiguity. Clarification is therefore necessary. The parliamentary majority drafted their own motion without any consultation with the parliamentary minority. In presenting and defending the motion they attributed motives and passed judgements and became evidently partisan by claiming that the socio-economic prosperity, progress and general welfare enjoyed under the APRC regime added up to permit no justification for a coup.
The parliamentary minority listened attentively to the arguments forwarded by the members of the parliamentary majority. Other than the member for Banjul South most of the members who spoke inflamed the situation. Instead of counselling for restraint they called for retribution.
Finally, it was the turn of the majority leader. He did not only utter inflammatory remarks, he went further to assert, with all the emphasis at his command, that the parliamentary opposition would be guilty of treason if they failed to condemn the abortive coup d’etat.
It is at this point that I intervened, as minority leader, to vehemently object to such irresponsible remarks, which constituted a gross violation of the standing orders of parliament.
In my intervention, I indicated that it was rather unfortunate that the motion was couched in the judgmental language that befitted a prosecutor or judge and not a national assembly member. I questioned why national assembly members should make inflammatory remarks when even the President decided not to raise the issue in his address.
Contrary to the opinion of the majority leader that our refusal to join them in their inflammatory remarks constituted the aiding and abetting of coup makers we stood on the bedrock of sound principles in behaving as we did.
First and foremost, it is prudent that in a state of conflict one should not allow oneself to be drawn into it; on the contrary, one should serve to be a builder of peace rather than put fuel on fire. One should be a peacemaker rather than a warmonger.
It is in this light that I issued the following words:
Hon. Speaker, when we are dealing with such matters, we should deal with matters of principle and not substance. Any democrat or those who intend to be democrats would know that people who are accused of crimes are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty. It is not the duty of Assembly Members to be judges but it is the duty of Assembly Members to advocate for principles. The principles are very clear. Article 4 paragraph (9) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union calls for the rejection of all unconstitutional changes of government. This is due to the fact that Africa is an Africa of the people. Africa has passed through the stage of monarchs, tyrants and despots, ruling over the people. Africa has grown and perhaps that is why we have started to advocate for the principle of democracy; that power must be derived from the consent of the people and should be exercise in their interest. We must bear in mind what that entails. We in the opposition have departed from the position of our colleagues where they are avoiding the principle and are promoting partisan politics, which has been reflected by the Majority Leader (Hon. Churchill Baldeh).
It is important to bear in mind that if we start to condemn the coup on the basis of somebody saying that he can come to Banjul and back to Nuimi and that his children can come to school in Banjul and back to Nuimi, people travelling to Jarra and Wuli in the South Bank can claim that it takes them days to get home.
I don’t think that is a reason for opposing or supporting a coup d’etat. It is not the nature of a government in a country, whether succeeding economically or not, that determines whether there should be a coup or not. It is a constitutional rule that power must not be derived from the barrel of the gun; that is the principle! The principle is that it should be derived from the consent of the people. We hope that all these experiences would be lessons that what we need to consolidate is democracy and free the people to be totally in charge of their destiny.
This is not a matter of party. All of us in common own the Gambia; all of us in common must defend that constitution. We in the opposition therefore hope that this event that has taken place would be left to the investigators, so that they would do their work and take those people who have allegedly committed crimes before the courts to prove their innocence or guilt. We hope that in this process, our democratic evolution would be enhanced. A member has indicated the MOU we have signed between political parties and just few days ago, we did the inauguration. We hope that spirit would continue. That is the spirit which can make Gambia to be stable today and would make Gambia stable tomorrow. The spirit of realising that all of us must defend the fundamental rights and freedom of our citizens, the spirit that we must defend the rule of law, ensure that political parties and political opponents will abide by the principle of not engaging in demagogy and character assassination but would live up to the politics of issues so that the people would decide who would govern them.
This is the life we wish for this country. I must say that I would like to advise the government that what has happened should not lead to any culture of impunity.
What exists in the constitution as rights for people who are detained must be respected. The more we respect this, the more stable the Gambia becomes. We hope that stability will continue because we intend to contribute to that by respecting the laws of our country, by continuing to promote democratic principles, by committing ourselves not to participate in governments that are derived from coup d’etat just as we have shown in principle in the past. The best principle! We in the opposition have shown our commitment to the democratic principle by vowing never to participate in a government that is derived from a coup d’etat.
The position of the flagbearer of NADD, which is the position discussed and unanimously approved by the Executive Committee, is very clear.
As an alliance which intends to form an alternative government our role is not to take side in conflicts but to help resolve conflicts and prove that we can offer opportunities for both sides to co-exist in peace in a new country led by NADD.
Secondly, we are fully committed to the principle that government must derive its authority from the consent of the people and should exercise that authority within the fences erected and guarded by Democratic Constitutions and laws to promote the liberty and general welfare of a people. Hence in principle NADD endorsed the position of the African Union as stipulated in Article 4 paragraph (p) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union that:………..
In this respect, where an abortive coup is alleged and death and destruction of properties occur, NADD will condemn the destruction of life and property and once a free and fair trial before a Court takes place and an alleged coup established it will condemn the attempt to change a government through unconstitutional means. On the other hand, where a coup is made NADD commits itself never to participate in such a government and will strongly condemn and oppose any attempt to destroy democratic structures and reverse any democratic gains.
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bamba
Sweden
401 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 23:23:16
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| With a leader like Halifa the law will always take its course and justice will prevail. Halifa is not made of "harassing texture". His Koran will always be the country's constituition. I just have faith in this guy. |
Bamba |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 23:35:06
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| Thanks Bamba, these are the words of wisdom. We are witnessing a living ledgend and the same calibre like Nelson Mandela amonsgt otherss. |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2006 : 01:10:45
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| Thanks to the entire staff of the Point newspaper endeavouring to work under very difficult political climate and publish quality news headlines. We know the stakes and risks are high but as professionals you may have realised that the press is one of the pillars of democracy and you have a noble profession. Keep the good work, determination to face the challenges. |
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bamba
Sweden
401 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2006 : 09:12:30
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Kobo, get this from me--fear has a limit, beyond its limit fear becomes inactive--people are not afraid anymore. When the fear gadgets used by despots have exhausted their usefulness, people then risk their lives to boot out despots from power. The conspiration of fear in Gambia will sooner rather than later culminate. Then every Tom, Dick and Ruth in Gambia will, against fatal risks, go out to the street to boot Jammeh out of power.
The Point newspaper has most probably overcome fear thru Deyda's death. There are circumstances when evil begets good. |
Bamba |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2006 : 09:59:45
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| Bammba I don/t thimk that people are not afraid. Of course they are. That's not the case with Point staff and Forooya because I see the quality of dessiminating this press release as an attempt to reach another level of maturity stage in their quest to gather and dessiminate relevant issues. As independent private media they are the ideal sources for us to have a balanced picture of what other government controlled media dictates to dessiminate and biased reporting. Bro, dont't over-react just follow through this forum being shared with other Gamabians for exchange of ideas to learn new things. Keep a low profile now as your message is very clear to most of us. |
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bamba
Sweden
401 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2006 : 10:15:48
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| Kobo, now I cant get u, am not with u---a wee bit vaugue. I was just responding to your tribute to the Point. Am not on a high profile at all. |
Bamba |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2006 : 13:15:18
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| Thanks Bamba.Sorry that you don't get me but the realities on the ground are different from what you envisaged. We have reached that extreme situation but nothing is happening rather than more chaotic system to deal with. However be more patient to see how matters will eventually be sorted out. I just used low profile to make you calm down a bit with aggressiveness of tackling fear factor. We have diverse opinions and there is lack of ideal solution to this crises. |
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