Coalition Strategy Talks Went Well But..

oppositionGambian opposition representatives on Sunday held the first talks aimed setting the stage for a possible winning strategy against President Yahya Jammeh on December 1st elections.

The talks, spearheaded by Mrs. Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, took place at the YMCA in Kanifing. In attendance were all the opposition parties except the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) and People’s Organisation for Independence Development and Socialism (PDOIS).

A man privy to the talks said meeting went well well, although “a lot of small contradictions and misunderstandings were sorted out. At the end the meeting, hearts and minds were in unison.”

In a written message to Kairo News, Deyda Hydara wrote that “it now behoove on PDOIS and GMC to attend the next meeting which will be held very soon. The meeting was very positive indeed. A roadmap is being thought out and will be tabled on the next meeting. All of us the ground are happy about the outcome of the meeting and would encourage the diaspora to mend fences and forget the small personal differences and look at the bigger picture. The organizers and participants will issue a communique in due course.”

In an earlier  a communique to the press, Mrs. Jallow-Tambajang said the talks were kick-started by the committee of concerned Gambian citizens of all walks of life around the world. These people, according to her, succeeded in convincing opposition political leaders to launch a winning coalition party strategy for the December 2016 National Elections.

She said the coalition’s consensus building approach solely resonate with the interest and aspirations of all Gambians for democratic change of the 21 years dictatorship and inherent modern day slavery. Mrs. Jallow-Tambajang promises to publicize the outcome of the meeting as soon as possible to facilitate the sharpening of our future campaigns at all levels.

The Committee, she added, considers it important to mention that this long awaited prospective coalition paradigm, if embraced with sincerity, transparency, tolerance (respect for the individual and mutual support) by all of us, will be the right path to victory not for the Committee of Concerned Gambian Citizens alone, but it will be for our entire suppressed and oppressed nation. Therefore, let all of us commit ourselves to adopt these professional and civilized norms and values by working together strategically to leverage our movement for democratic change with focus on saving our nation come  December 1, 2016 National Elections or never!

In a separate document entitled “Call For A Credible & Gender-Balanced Coalition For Gambia – Third Republic,” the committee spelt out its mission of defeating Yahya Jammeh’s 21 years of undemocratic political leadership. Such a leadership resulted to gross violations of human rights, abject poverty, unlawful detentions, extra-judicial killings, murder, disappearances of innocent people, among others. This also resulted to mass exodus of Gambian intellectuals and promising youths to the diaspora. The committee wants to form a credible and gender-balanced coalition party whose goal is to win the 2016 national elections and then usher our country into democratic governance, peace and prosperity.

Gentlemen, forming a credible and gender balanced coalition and adopting a winning citizen-centered political strategy, will rekindle the frustrated spirits and aspirations of all Gambians for change. This will also send a powerful political message to President Yahya A. A. J. Jammeh and his detractors that Gambians have enough of living as second class citizens in their own country. While this situation is blatant, we would also encourage you to constantly update the international community on his excessive human rights abuses, personal greed and monopoly of community and national assets, including development projects and the economy.

Ends

41 Comments

  1. The schedule for the yesterday meeting coincided with the already arranged PDOIS rally at Bundung Six Junction. This rally had long been organized well well before this YMCA meeting.

    PDOIS therefore was busy with that rally and couldn’t attend this meeting especially with the short notice it gave.

    Had parties been consulted with the schedule in time, another date could have been suggested

    • Deyda Haidara

      PDOIS could have sent a representative as NRP did.

      • Indeed, PDOIS could have sent a rep but no one should fault them for not doing so, given the circumstances and what we know now…

        I think the efforts to bring parties together should be applauded, but the procedure(s) to do that must also recognise the EXISTENCE and INDEPENDENCE of political parties…

        I don’t want to.soumd negative at this point in time, but two facts we already know don’t augur well for unity efforts :

        (1) the response of Mr Mail Fatty that he only learnt of the said meeting on the pages of Kaironews, though his party was mentioned in the communique ;

        (2) the choice of date and time of the meeting that coincided with an important event in the well publicised PDOIS political process…

        I think those who want to play roles in, or be part of, the democratic political process in The Gambia, must show a bit of respect to the political parties, their leaders and membership…

        There is no harm in wanting to speed up a process, but seemingly insignificant methods and methodologies could do serious damage to the whole exercise …

        I learnt from Hon.OJ (interview with Gainako) that he has already began the process of coalition talks by writing to all parties and he is confident because the response he received is good.

        If this group had properly consulted with all parties, would they not have known about OJ’s initiative and may be, launch a joint bid to maximise resources and demonstrate common intent….?

        Let’s acknowledge that there is something called, “PROTOCOL”, and in my view, political parties must insist that efforts to bring them together observe protocol…

  2. Gambia, then your comrades are herewith enjoined to take part in next planned meetings. Don’t wait for an invitation nor take it to heart that none of your members were present at the just concluded meeting. Just join forces!

    Bravo to Mrs Jallow-Tambajang for kick-starting a process even if the outcome is uncertain and incalculable. The sheer resolve to bring the heads of our political elders together, is a milestone and deserves our recognition.

  3. Malang Jammeh

    Halifa Sallah just need to leave his gigantic ego out of the door and join this common sense coalition for the larger Gambian freedom. I used to support PDOIS but now is not about any individual party. We have to come together and liberate our dear motherland. So please Halifa we don’t have enough time for your intellectual bluffs.

    • How could a simple statement of pledges, that could be understood by even primary school kids, be branded “intellectual bluff”…

      I think your claim of support for PDOIS is doubtful, when one reads between the lines…I have heard accusations of intellectualism and (of being) philosophical levelled against Halifa, but no one is able to, or is prepared to actually explain and give examples of these…

      May be Mr Malang Jammeh can help us lay that to rest by explaining how Halifa engages in “intellectual bluff”…Over to you sir….

      • Bax, we the Gambian people want simple, sensible, feasible and practical solution to our current predicament. Mr Sallah and PDOIS simply need to join forces with other opposition parties for the best interest of the country. He didn’t have winning strategy because he failed to win the hearts and souls of the majority as far as opposition parties are concerned. He is the least popular among them. Every kind of data has indicated that he is the least popular and little unknown to win presidential election. His noble ideas can be incorporated into UDP party led coalition or any alliance for that matter. Mr Sallah candidacy has zero chance to win the election. This is what everybody is telling you and PDOIS.

        • Max, if I may ask, Who has a winning chance then? As far as I remember, Darboe had tried in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 without winning despite being in one coalition or another.

          In fact according to the IEC declared results, his majority deminises in every election leaving him to just 17% in 2011 from 36% in 1996. This is a 19% decline in his political career.

          Instead of persisting on Halifa and PDOIS to join Darboe and UDP, why not put it the other way round for them to support Halifa as he had only attempted once in 2006. Other than that when he stood for nadd, I am not aware of him vying for presidency in his political career. Pls correct me if i am wrong Max.

          On the other hand, why not prevail on other parties too to come to a neutral ground and contest the election. Hence your so called anomaly of Halifa not having a winning strategy applies to your UDP equally. Their strategy of party led coalition had not yield any fruit since 1996.

          How about that Max?

  4. As a leader of any opposition party for instance, I could have constitutionally cancelled all rallies and meetings proposed by the party and subdue to the majority’s call (the people’s call), however prompt notification for an Alliance meeting might have been released.
    I think that both absentee parties in the meeting; the PDOIS and the GMC, owe it to ordinary Gambian to clear our doubts in simple and straight forward language as to what may have been sicerely their constitutional reasons for not attending this meeting.
    One may be against Mrs. Tambajang for their own good reasons but in my view point, this whole move is got little to do with her if not the country’s future. Isn’t it about the people after all; PDOIS’s cry.

  5. Max…

    I think every honest observer knows that, not only is PDOIS willing to join a coalition, it has presented a very sensible, credible and non-partisan coalition proposal….

    So to give the impression that PDOIS is unwilling to join any coalition is a bit misleading…As a matter of fact, more and more voices are now echoing the non-partisan approach, as proposed by PDOIS…

    My query here was about the accusations of “intellectual bluff”…Can somebody tell me how Halifa is guilty of it now or before…Come on, you should be able to substantiate these accusations if you are truthful. ..

    The Gambian people want simple, credible solutions, you said. ..? Let me put it to you that you will not find another party with more simpler and more credible policies to address our problems, whether in deficit reduction, youth unemployment, food self sufficiency or improved democratic governance, than PDOIS..

    If you disagree, tell me which one and show me how…The greatest challenge we face today, which is the biggest letdown for ourselves, is an underperforming and unproductive agricultural sector, making us entirely reliant on foreign imports to survive, despite being blessed with enough agricultural land (in proportion to our population size) and abundant fresh water supply…

    Who has the simplest, most credible and most self dependent solutions to this problem..? My view is PDOIS and if you disagree, I will show you how whilst you will show me how your party of choice has better solutions…Over to you Max…You may ask Lafia for help since you support the same party…

    • Bax, I am not an ideologue but I believe in pragmatism, compromise and flexibility in politics. After all, politics is all about convincing people to change position or support your view, ideas or policy. A careful observation of current Gambian’s political predicament, I came to conclusion that UDP party led coalition is the best course of action for country in order to have change of government through electoral mean. This is because UDP party’s policy on human rights, rule of law and good governance is what we need in our third republic. Today majority of citizens who criticise Yaya Jammeh’s regime are very upset and worry about his continuous human rights abuses, impunity and corruption. UDP is on the record fronting these issues from day one. The leadership of UDP truly understand human right situation in The Gambia and in fact party itself became the main victim. UDP’s policies on economic development is the best strategy for the country. UDP is the only opposition party that has effectively challenged the dictatorship electorally to bring about the desire change. They need to be supported and join forces with to ensure victory. PDOIS has not done that in The Gambia because of their poor performances in the past elections. Without UDP support and encouragement of its supporters, Mr Sallah would never won Serekunda central. UDP is the main opposition party and its leadership is truly a democrat and Champion of human rights. The record of leadership and the party speak for itself. They are the biggest threat to Jammeh’s presidency as far as political parties are concern. In my view Pdois pose the least threat to Jammeh’s regime because they have least support base. Democracy is about the numbers or majority decision while minority votes needs to be respected and acknowledged. The idea of independent political establishment may work but at the moment, we do have a party which truly believe in rule of law, human rights and good governance and it is supported by the majority. I think UDP should be given the chance and all opposition party should rally behind it for the country to have successful electoral change.

  6. “Bax, we the Gambian people want simple, sensible, feasible and practical solution to our current predicament. Mr Sallah and PDOIS simply need to join forces with other opposition parties for the best interest of the country.”

    Max, I don’t think you guys are being fair to Halifa in particular, and PDOIS in general. Halifa has stated on numerous occasions the position of PDOIS when it comes to a coalition of the opposition political parties. And not only has he clearly stated the position of the party but the reason as well.

    A party-led coalition formula is not a winning strategy. And this has been proven. In four election cycles from 1996, UDP has been in one form of party-led coalition or another with opposition political parties except PDOIS, and in all instances not only has it lost the elections but their share of the electoral votes tend to diminish. Why is this the case?

    How then can we just assume that this trend will change if PDOIS should join the other opposition parties in a UDP party-led coalition. And the possibility is there that not all those who support PDOIS and will vote for them will also vote for a coalition candidate under a party-led ticket.

    And the possibility is also there that those who supported the NRP and PPP and the other opposition parties would have voted for them, but they did not vote for the coalition candidate under a party-led ticket. This is possible because the support of these opposition parties and their voters will not necessarily transfer to the coalition candidate under a party-led ticket.

    People support political parties for various reasons. When there is a non party-led coalition strategy then there will be no basis for these reasons. They will be negated. There will only be one agenda and one objective.

    ” He didn’t have winning strategy because he failed to win the hearts and souls of the majority as far as opposition parties are concerned. He is the least popular among them. Every kind of data has indicated that he is the least popular and little unknown to win presidential election.”

    Max, this argument is not genuine because you are directing it to only one person: Halifa. The fate of Halifa as far as opposition parties are concerned, is the fate of all the other opposition leaders as far as elections are concerned. None of them can win. It doesn’t matter if they are popular or unpopular. It doesn’t matter if they have 3% of the votes or 17% of the votes. The historical evidence is that none of them can win the general elections since 1996.

    “His noble ideas can be incorporated into UDP party led coalition or any alliance for that matter. Mr Sallah candidacy has zero chance to win the election. This is what everybody is telling you and PDOIS.”

    I would not discount Halifa’s candidacy yet. I know for the interest of unifying the opposition Halifa will yield to a coalition candidate who will be selected through a democratic process. Let us have a process in place; unify the opposition and select a candidate.

    I applaud the efforts of Mrs Tambajang in trying to forge a coalition of the opposition parties. My only concern are those who have a preconceived notion of what the coalition ought to be. And they are not willing to move from this position. With that kind of mindset I don’t think it would be helpful.

    The good thing is that the parties have started the campaign early. They are also starting the talks early. Between now and December there can be a breakthrough. The only thing we can do is hope and pray.

    Reply

    • NADD was led by Mr Sallah and did not work . Common sense tell us that majority party lead the minority . This is the fact pdois continue to deny . Even if opposition leaders back mr sallah , he is not going to win any election because he is unknown to majority of electorates . UDP party led coalition always has more votes than other parties or alliance .
      Bax , pdois Didnt have the best policies as far as Gambian electorates are concerned . They didn’t approve that for past 40 years . Therefore you are entitled to make your claim that pdois has the best policy . One thing I know , is not going to work in The Gambia is socialism or communism . Unless pdois detach that concept from their party , Gambian people will continue to believe that they are not the answer to our problem . You and I understand what pdois is all about but average voter see them as socialists or communists . So therefore the name they attached to themselves was the very one which has been defined by Sir Dawda and up till today , they haven’t recover from that caricature . Strategically , it will be in the best interest of the party to change their name or strategy . This is my problem with them . Flexibility and compromise are key to success in politics . Flexibility and compromise equal to pragmatism .

      • Max….

        Forget about the -ISMS…They mean nothing without their substance and for the majority of unschooled voters, they just can’t be bothered with interrogating and knowing the substance because it’s just too sophisticated and complicated…

        And so policies, in the majority of cases, hardly matter much to voters when they cast their votes…Therefore, pointing to the share of party’s votes as an indication of acceptance or rejection of policies, does betray ignorance of voting trends in The Gambia…

        Halifa and PDOIS are trying their best to simplify these substances but it’s difficult because there are far too many voices wishing to drown them; so as to keep.the people hopeful but ignorant… That way, the status quo can be maintained..

        All the people really care about is food on the table, fertiliser, farming tools and markets for their products, health and health care, education, jobs, good public services, etc, and so far, these have eluded them, even though the socialist have never been in government since 1965…I don’t know what you make.of that.? You can certainly not blame the socialist for that…

        My question is simple and I will ask it again…Which party has simpler, more credible and more self reliant policies to solve our problems..? I say it is PDOIS….What say you. .? Over to you Max..

    • Janjanbureh

      Kamalo, tell that to President Mohammed Buhari who just finally got elected by the Nigerian people after four times. His party had different alliances or coalitions but failed three times. The recent elections, twelve parties came together and formed a coalition which his party the largest among all of them. Therefore, more delegates were given to his party based on the prior election results. He was eventually elected their presidential candidate because he has a better chance of winning the elections than most people. Why can PDOIS accept the reality and compromise with the other parties. They cannot get more than what they are bringing on the table period. Coming together and fighting a common enemy is the responsibility of all patriotic Gambians but to think that we all lost for lack of coalition is pure selfishness. My best advice to PDOIS is to swallow their pride and save our country from this brutal dictator. Allah said in the Quran, the worst thing in my eyes are pride and arrogance which are the lowest of the low. We all have to be careful of that.

      • President Buhari was not in an alliance when he won the elections. He was in a new party created by the merger of other parties and despite his popularity and previous election records, he still had to fight a leadership contest at a convention. Get yourself informed about any issue you want to comment on. This is embarrassing.

        • Janjanbureh

          Bax, what you failed to mention was that Buhari had more delegates than any of the parties that came into the alliance. There was no way Buhari could loose the primary elections because his party being the biggest party and the highest vote getter in the previous elections. Atiku Abubacar, the former Vice-President ran in the primary too but his party was smaller with less delegates and his support level was mostly in two Northern States. The other two unknown candidates had no chance at all. Buhari had solid support in majority of the Northern States and some South Western states. All other potential candidates who could have challenge him in the primary but they decided to back him because he is a better candidate than all of them. In the case of The Gambia, the small parties like PDOIS want all the parties to be equal in delegates so that they can deny the largest party the opportunity to lead even though their share of the national votes is very minimal.

          • There was no need for me to mention Buhari’s “delegates” to refute your claim that he led a coalition of parties, because he came with none from his previous party. In fact, of the four main parties that merged to form the APC, Buhari had contested under the ticket of two: ANPP & CPC. Both dissolved to become part of the All Progressive Congress (APC)

            What is interesting to note is that though the new party (APC) included many other smaller parties, all joining partners became equal members of the new party. There is no report of any of the parties insisting that their share of votes from previous elections should entitle them to more prominence, and determine their role, in the newly formed party.

            Buhari’s popularity and preference as leader was never in doubt, but he had to contest, on an EQUAL and FAIR platform, with all other contestants to give credibility to the process. He did not bring any delegates specifically for himself. The two parties he represented (ANPP & CPC) had ceased to exist because their operating licenses had been withdrawn by the electoral body before the new party was registered.

            This is the type of BS that you should avoid in a public forum:

            “In the case of The Gambia, the small parties like PDOIS want all the parties to be equal in delegates so that they can deny the largest party the opportunity to lead even though their share of the national votes is very minimal.”

            Inform yourself on how delegates will be allocated if all parties had agreed to hold a convention to select a flag bearer. This, again, is very embarrassing…

          • Bax, you are good at twisting nothing to make something out of. If that was the case, why don’t many candidates challenge Buhari since we all know how complex and decisive Nigeria is? Buhari for sure will not risk all his support for smaller parties to smack the candidacy from him. He has more to loose than anyone else. Even in the US, does each states have the same amount of delegates. Hell no Bax. Proportionally, each state has different amount of delegates based on the congressional seats and congressional seats are based on population of the states. This is what you called the great compromise. In your PDOIS theorical book, each state should have had equal delegates. This only makes things unfair for bigger states who are bringing more on the table. if PDOIS was bringing more on the table, I doubt it whether they will agree to the same crap they are supporting now. Do you think that anybody will agree to you bringing $100 dollars investment and they bringing $1000 dollars investment to start a business but you want both to have equal share of the profits. You have to be out of your mind. Just think about it.

  7. Janjanbureh

    Max, PDOIS lives in its own fantasy world and they never compromise with anybody unless they lead the group or others accept their non-workable policies. Bax stated before here that PDOIS will not be part of any alliance to help any individual or party to get to power. Simply , this meant that if others don’t join them they are not ready to join anybody. This is very disappointed whe we all know that their level of support is very minimal and their chance of winning the presidential election is zero to nothing. Halifa knows that the last time he won a seat in parliament was because of the UDP and other parties telling their supporters to vote for him and they never put a candidate in Serrekunda Central against him. What happened when refused to work with them, he end up losing the seat big time but he is the type of person who refused to accept the reality on the ground even if it right at his nose. Good luck again.

    • Bax does not speak for PDOIS and even of I made those comments, I.would.have made it clear that they were my personal views, not PDOIS position…Learn to differentiate the two pls..

  8. “NADD was led by Mr Sallah and did not work . Common sense tell us that majority party lead the minority.”

    Max, ask yourself why NADD did not work. This has been the subject of intense debate and argument over the years, and in this very medium.

    Halifa has fulfilled his responsibilities as a coordinator of NADD to its fullest. It is not because of Mr Sallah that NADD did not work, NADD did not work because some of the parties that constituted NADD failed to honor their signed agreement. NADD’s MOU.

    There is no common sense that tell us that the majority party should lead the minority party. We are not in a contest for leadership. We are talking about building a nation. The responsibility of which should be equal to all parties whether they are in the majority or minority.

    Secondly, this talk about the majority party leading the minority is only relevant in a parliamentary democracy. That is where it works best. In the Gambia where it has been tried it has woefully failed.

    “This is the fact pdois continue to deny . Even if opposition leaders back mr sallah , he is not going to win any election because he is unknown to majority of electorates . UDP party led coalition always has more votes than other parties or alliance.”

    The fact is a party-led coalition has been tried repeatedly in four consecutive election cycles and it failed.

    Should opposition leaders back Mr. Sallah it would be under an independent ticket. He will win the elections because even if he is unknown to the majority of electorates, those who are known to the majority of electorates and back his candidature, will make the majority of electorates known to him. This I suppose is common sense.
    .
    “Bax , pdois Didnt have the best policies as far as Gambian electorates are concerned . They didn’t approve that for past 40 years . Therefore you are entitled to make your claim that pdois has the best policy ”

    If the policies the Gambian electorate approved for the past “40 years” are better than what PDOIS has to offer, what chance then does the policies of the other parties have as far as the Gambian electorate are concerned? If PDOIS policies do not stand a chance much more the policies of the other parties.

    “One thing I know , is not going to work in The Gambia is socialism or communism . Unless pdois detach that concept from their party , Gambian people will continue to believe that they are not the answer to our problem.”

    Don’t associate us with communism. We are not communist. In the three decades that PDOIS has been in existence, did you ever hear or read anywhere that the party or its leadership are communist? Moreover it is becoming clearer by the day that PDOIS is part of the solution to The Gambia’s problem.

    You can tag us with the label of a socialist. We are guided by the finest principles of socialism. And even in America socialism is not a dirty word. We have a presidential candidate who openly profess socialist ideals and is drawing thousands and thousands of people to his meetings and campaign.

    ” You and I understand what pdois is all about but average voter see them as socialists or communists ”

    This is not an accurate statement. The average voter only see PDOIS as the party that explain their program, their policies and principles to them.

    The party that explain to them how their government is run and its shortcomings. How it can empower them so that they can take charge of their country. The party that tells them what it would do for them if elected to power. This is what PDOIS does and this is how the average voter relate to PDOIS. An honest party that doesn’t shy from telling the truth. And stand by the truth.

    “So therefore the name they attached to themselves was the very one which has been defined by Sir Dawda and up till today , they haven’t recover from that caricature .”

    Again, I don’t think this is accurate. PDOIS knows what they were against in the first republic and what they are against in the second republic. This has nothing to do with a caricature that Sir Dawda made about PDOIS. And to say that defines PDOIS is the height of folly.

    “Strategically , it will be in the best interest of the party to change their name or strategy . This is my problem with them . Flexibility and compromise are key to success in politics . Flexibility and compromise equal to pragmatism .”

    I don’t think PDOIS is inflexible. They are willing to compromise too. What do you have to offer besides your time-tested and failed party-led coalition strategy? Talk about pragmatism. What is not pragmatic about all the agendas that PDOIS has placed in the public square?

    Reply

    • Janjanbureh

      Kamalo, in any negotiations what you bring to the table is what you get. PDOIS cannot bring in 3 percent and except to get 20 percent. Just because you can run your mouth and make empty promises doesn’t mean that people have to buy it. None of these guys ever ran a ministry or government, why do you think that their policies will work? If they don’t want to join any coalition they just have to say it and no questions will be ask anymore. Playing games and hiding their feelings is just wasting everybody’s time. Enough of the games.

  9. Sir Dawda who said PDOIS will take people’s wives from them, their cattle and all other properties is now in the pay check of the chap who overthrew him by force of arms receiving 50,000 dalasis monthly, even though his government was said to be constituted through a democratic method. That lie cannot deter a party that is out to bring about a genuine democratic system and free the workers from their trap.
    Kamalo, PDOIS is the most popular party in the Gambia today.You can take my word for it. I was there and attended at least 2 rallies and some meetings. Therefore holding a meeting at their back by people who have no standing in Gambian politics is just a waste of time and resources. These are desperate moves by desperate parties and individuals. Desperate people can never forge credible strategies. The premise has been that all parties go and build their bases and reduce the majority of the ruling party and if by June there is electoral reform, all parties would stand on their own ticket. But if there is no electoral reform, then presidential candidates can meet and discuss how to put up one candidate. This is so because if there is less than 6 months to election, there can be no change in election laws. How many times did Halifa explain this.
    This is why the UDP is holding their congress in April after which they will select their presidential candidate, according to Darboe and Lamin Dibba, because by then it would become clear to them as to whether there will be electoral reform or not. This is why the NRP is holding their Congress right now to meet the 31st March deadline of the IEC. The PPP should go ahead and do the same, work to reduce Jammeh’s support, build their constituencies and select their candidate who would sit with others to decide which formula is more democratic in selecting a flag bearer rather than wasting everyone’s time calling for talks behind the backs of some at a time when electoral reform is still being pursued by an Inter-party Committee constituted by all parties, at a time when parties have very urgent commitments to fulfill. Using an innocent bystander who has no locus standi in Gambian opposition politics to thwart the agreements of all parties and to ignore protocols and Institutions to jump start talks for cheap popularity pretending to be more interested in coalition than others will not in any way serve to hide the lack of activity of any party. UDP and PDOIS are working very hard to reduce APRC but all I hear from PPP is Coalition, Coalition. Mere coalition without winning supporters of the ruling party is just empty exercise. We know them for running to the Diaspora to report that party ABC has betrayed the aspiration of the people when they run away from responsibility. Why is Fatoumata who wants to be a neutral broker rushing the talks? She should make proper consultations before any sitting rather than attempting talks for the sake of it. All parties must give consent to a meeting before it is held unless they write to say that they are not attending at all. But desperate people who have ulterior motives cannot stick to such protocols.

    • Food for thought…Thank you.

    • Lafia Touray la Manju

      I agree with you on fatoumatta Tambajang. But can I make it clear that the Udp upcoming congress as nothing to do with coalition let alone pdois’s silly agenda 2016. The party is required by its constitution to hold a congress at least once every five years, and that’s exactly what they are doing. They have no time for pdois’s fish and chips

      • Why are you being so disrespectful ? He didn’t say the UDP Congress has anything to do with Agenda 2016, but PDOIS did say parties should be on the ground to build their support base.

        • Lafia Touray la Manju

          just stating facts. They just happened to be blunt and unkind to your position. The udp is not doing anything in response to any of PDOIS’s pronouncement or statement. The UDP has a party programme and agenda to follow, and that’s exactly what they are doing.

          Thanks

    • You will continue to make outlandish claims. You never stop to amaze me Yero .

      • Alieu Jobe

        Max

        Yero is Bagdad Bob, during the 2003 Iraqi invasion he was on Iraqi TV telling Iraqis that Iraqi forces were defeating American troops and pushing Americans out of Iraq.

        Earth to Yero come in, PDOIS is a 3% party. The last math class I took was cal 3 in 1999. I know a lot has changed, in fact Pluto is no longer a planet but one thing I know for sure is 3% does not equal popular.

  10. Janjanburay there is a Win-Win concept in negotiations and it doesn’t necessaryly follow what you have stated.

    What you bring to negotiations is also not necessaryly what you get. There are other factors that also come into consideration. Besides the interest of the parties another factor would be what is in the overall interest of the country. If the parties can agree on what is in the best interest of the country then there will be a deal.

  11. Yerro Bah, the month of June then is the deciding fate for Gambia’s opposition parties.

    By June if there is no electoral reform then there will never be electoral reforms because a reform cannot take place six months before an election. Our understanding now is that this is the law.

    If there is electoral reform before June there will be no need for a coalition because there will be a second round of voting if no party gets and outright 50 percent majority.

    Pdois is working on the premise that if parties strengthen and consolidate their bases and constituciencies they will deny the incumbent a 50 percent majority and force a second round of voting.

    If there is no electoral reform by June then opposition parties are faced with two choices. Either they form a coalition and present one ptesidential candidate or they go their separate ways and face the incumbent. The choices are now clear.

    If all the parties select their presidential candidates by June they can either go by Pdois’s proposal of selecting one presidential candidate or find another method of doing so.

  12. Lafia Touray la Manju

    I can’t stop laughing my head off when kamalo, on one hand admits that a Udp led alliance always perform better; on the hand, he will say a Udp led alliance never succeeded. Well the type of alliance he and his party is calling for never succeeded. As a matter of fact; the Udp led alliance performed better and still has the potential to perform much better. So why not we join together to develop what is performing better rather than trying to compete against it.

    Thanks

    • Lafia can you back your statement. Where did i state that a Udp-led alliance performs better?

      On the contrary i have shown that it has no basis in law or principle, it promises to build a government of National Unity that has no constitutional legitimacy, and it has failed repeatedly as a coalition strategy.

      Prove me wrong. I am waiting.m

      • Lafia Touray la Manju

        What! you won’t even acknowledge that UDP led alliance always perform better??? Well this is an incontrovertible fact proven by statistics. No wonder high grade thinkers like myself don’t talk to people like you. Because you don’t appreciate basic facts and so your conclusion are always too illogical to the the point of annoyance.

        Ghees! he is something else

  13. Lafia, it is interesting that even though you considered yourself a non official of the UDP, you want us to rely on you for any official position of the party. No one said UDP Congress has something to do with Coalition. Even if one said so he/she may not be wrong about that.
    My point is that all serious parties are preparing for eventualities before June including the UDP for obvious reasons. Congress is one activity to prepare a party for election including Coalition and no one should rush people to it since everything will become clear by June. Do not worry your head too much about the PDOIS Agenda 2016. That is the PDOIS Manifesto not yours and of course just one of the many proposals expected on the table. And mark you, the vast majority of the people are buying the Agenda idea. Only Time Will Tell!!
    Maxs, you cannot go against the tide or the wind otherwise you will simply perish.

    • Lafia Touray la Manju

      I know that inter-party primary or convention as a mode of selecting a candidate has no bearing on UDP considerations regarding coalition. That’s for sure.

  14. “What! you won’t even acknowledge that UDP led alliance always perform better???”

    Perform better compared to what? Remember that UDP has been in one party-led alliance or another since 1996. So we can only make a comparison with NADD and the United Front Alliance.

    Prior to NADD and the United Front we can only compare your share of the electoral votes from one election to the other. In this regard I don’t think you always perform better. As a matter of fact your share of the electoral votes tend to diminish.

    If we compare the nature of the alliances a non party-led alliance perform better than a party-led alliance.

    In the United Front alliance their share of the electoral votes increased compared to a previous election. But in the UDP party-led alliance their share of the electoral votes decreased compared to a previous election. Therefore comparative to a previous election a non party-led alliance perform better than a party-led alliance. The United Front percentage share of the electoral votes increased and the UDP party-led alliance percentage share of the electoral votes decreased.

    “Well this is an incontrovertible fact proven by statistics.”

    That the UDP party-led alliance has more votes compared to the United Front. But when it comes to which alliance perform better compared to the previous election, the United Front increased its percentage share of the votes. The UDP party-led alliance has a decrease of its percentage share of the votes. Now we should know which alliance perform better.

    “No wonder high grade thinkers like myself don’t talk to people like you. Because you don’t appreciate basic facts and so your conclusion are always too illogical to the the point of annoyance.”

    Your high grade thinking does not manifest itself. Not in this medium or anywhere else. You always proffer the same arguments but does not have the courtesy to substantiate your assertions when challenged. This is not the caliber of a high grade thinker.

    I have put your basic facts into context. This is something that you always fail to do. You should also point out my lack of appreciation for basic facts that makes my conclusions too illogical.

  15. I am not surprise since UDP has never been interested in popular democracy. They only have a committee to select their candidate. Just wondering how such a party can bring about a genuine democratic society once in power. The Gambian people should simply relegate them to the dust bin.

  16. Janjanbureh

    How about PDOIS? A two and half men party. Who are you fooling?

Leave a Reply to Yerro Ba Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*