Fellow compatriots, Gambians expect ALL & EVERYONE to be REASONABLE in their stances for the collective resolve to reclaim the country FIRST; liberation from the current MURDEROUS AUTOCRATIC DICTATORSHIP to avert the civil catastrophe heading our way MUST motivate ALL political leaderships & various parties to be flexibly inclined for compromise to pave the way…
No party can RIGIDLY insist on their positions alone in ENTIRETY; ALL must be committed to move some grounds for compromise to save the Gambia from the current predicaments IF we’re to be TRUE to our efforts for liberation for sake of COUNTRY FIRST above anything else…
Just One Thought Of My Little Mind-
How about all currently opposition party leaders relax their deadlock stance; give way to the independent contestant Dr Isatou Touray to be the collective flag bearer; Isatou should be flexible to lead a translation government for 3 years (half of a full presidential term), instead of the full (5 year) term she proposed; thereby ALL give concessions for our collective common good; there can’t be the question of popularity as advance in some arguments; Isatou is known in every community in the Gambia; and all parties will have to sell the flag bear’s image for the election…
Then there can be free elections in a levelled playing field by end of the 3 years transition government; after all political & other necessary reforms required to move Gambia forward are done….
However, for fairness in democracy Dr Isatou Touray MUST be BARRED from contesting in the immediate subsequent presidential election under her watch by end of her translation government; though she should be allowed to contest as member of parliament in any parliamentary elections after handed over, to represent her own constituency; then after stepping down by end of this transition, Isatou should be allowed as the constitution requires to contest for the next presidential election by the end of the term of the next government who took over the third republic if Isatou desires so, to seek her own mandate in a new Gambia.
We CAN’T afford to refuse to ‘see to eyes’ for the sake of country ABOVE any individual political difference IF we are INDEED TRUE to the Gambia; I’m pretty sure we CAN do this; Insha Allah…
Long live the Gambia…
Bajaw
Ends
I want to declare for the records that I personally don’t have any affiliation, link, relations &/ any contacts to Dr Isatou Touray except for the common Gambian fraternity family we all share & belong to as Gambians….
I’m certainly known for suggesting Isatou as a consensus opposition flag bearer for our liberation struggle; this was a tactical call for the general Gambian fraternity to strategise to reclaim the country first; what I didn’t know was Isatou herself had such a plan in the offing as it came to manifest…
I have submitted the above piece published today at least some three days or so back, for our collective thought provoking in debates to set Gambia free bloodlessly faster; this piece is my own individual thinking for others to contribute towards in our collective search for way forward; however I have read some developments in other media after posting this article couple of days back until it is published today subsequently, I came to know the committee in Gambia tasked to facilitating dialogue amongst opposition parties (PDOIS excluding) for collective consensus have a similar view with a translation period for 2 years instead, whilst PDOIS maintains their primaries selection process arguments in a publication in Foroyaa under a heading “what people are saying about election”…
There isn’t much time left to go now but our chance for consensus remains gloom until we manage to pull out fast; all partisan politicians in various political parties must let go their individual & partisan egocentrism at this material time & see the greater Gambia beyond the partisan boundaries; that’s the only way to our collective salvation…
Quote : “I came to know the committee in Gambia tasked to facilitating dialogue amongst opposition parties (PDOIS excluding) for collective consensus have a similar view with a translation period for 2 years instead, whilst PDOIS maintains their primaries selection process arguments…”
Comment : Are you saying that there already exist a process in The Gambia to find an all party consensus for coalition that excludes PDOIS ..?
I am NOT disputing this claim, but merely seeking more information on it, as I have not seen it anywhere yet..
As for PDOIS’s position on.selection process, we mustn’t forget that the primary proposal from PDOIS was made well before many of the developments we see today, and since we learn from sources on the ground, including Foroyaa, that consultations are ongoing, we must be mindful of what statements and claims we make..
I think that, given the above, it will be unwise to make any claims until the current processes are completed or exhausted and statements that reflect the most current situation are put in the public domain.
Indeed, PDOIS did propose the holding of a primary to elect flag bearer, but they did also indicate that they were open to proposals from other parties, and unless they put out a statement now sticking to the same proposal of holding primaries, we should exercise caution.
Quote : “…..in a publication in Foroyaa under a heading “what people are saying about election”…
Observation : I have looked at Foroyaa Editorial of 9th September captioned, “What are the people saying about the presidential election ” (which is the most recent Foroyaa publication) and unless you are referring to a different Foroyaa publication, it should be pointed out that there is no mention of a primary for selection in it..
So more information is needed from you on the source (s) of your claim that PDOIS still maintains their primary proposal, in light of current developments..
Bajaw Your statement above that “(you) came to know the committee in Gambia tasked to facilitating dialogue amongst opposition parties (PDOIS excluding) for collective consensus have a similar view with a translation period for 2 years instead, whilst PDOIS maintains their primaries selection process arguments in a publication in Foroyaa under a heading “what people are saying about election”…”
NOTE: These points as rejoinder;
1. What legitimise that committee (so called INTER-PARTY COMMITTEE FOR OPPOSITION UNITY or IPCOU) without PDOIS NEVER BEING PART OF SETTING UP AND TALKS of that committee? This committee was not sanctioned by any political party and I challenge anyone to present a report when opposition parties held a formal meeting on Coalition for December 2016 to-date!
2. Foroyaa Editorial of September 09 2016 under a heading “WHAT ARE THE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?” states these statements as publish that;
“The Gambia does not have any pollster who would give accurate projects of the state of mind of the voters. This is a disadvantage because the role is assumed by rumour mongers who are influenced by their own prejudices and biasness in favour of one political party or personality of one form or the other.
The more one listens to comments from even educated Gambians the more one wonders how committed they are to democratic values. It is not uncommon to hear that the ruling party or this or that opposition party has the majority.
Before the 2012 election Abdoulaye Wade and the PDS ruled Senegal. However after the election Macky Sal took over and PDS went into the opposition. What relevance would it have been to claim that the PDS and Abdoulaye Wade had the majority just before the election.
Hence what is relevant in determining the prospect of a political party in an election is to conduct polls before the election. Results of previous elections may be relevant for analytical purposes but may not necessarily be relevant in determining the prospects of a party in the next following election.
Hence under a democratic society the majority comes at the polls. Soon after the polls parties may stand to lose or gain support which only new polls would be able to determine. The only accurate indicator to determine whether a party is heading for victory or defeat in the next election is results from polls conducted by genuine and professional pollsters. If Gambians are to succeed in avoiding voter apathy they should stop making predictions unless they conduct investigation to know the true state of mind of The Gambian people.
People should support the parties of their choice and respect choices made by others. They should promote parties of their choice and try to win support from others by explaining clearly what their parties aim to do. They should promote alliances wherever possible and tolerate differences where it cannot be prevented. This is the dictate of democracy.”
Yes, I read there’s is an interparty consultation coordination of other opposition parties which doesn’t include PDOIS; I’m referring to the same topic “what are people saying about presidential election”; one can see for oneself the PDOIS still maintains the same primaries selection arguments as stated therein; I never said it’s exhaustive; we can all assume & HOPE the consultations are ongoing amongst & within this group of other opposition parties together, as well as between them & PDOIS for a grand consensus for all liberation committed Gambians to pull together in unison…
I believe our aim at this material time should be for the realisation of the goal to salvage the country first by whichever way possible; this will be effectively manageable with collective consensus of all Gambians interested in change for better; which necessitate for all partisan inclinations which are barriers to defeat the purpose to be temporarily flexible just for liberation purposes ONLY, towards concessions, towards a collective agreement for our common good; my call was for ALL opposition parties, (NOT necessarily referring to any particular party) to temporarily shelf partisan & individual egocentrism for our collective betterments first as matters of priority…
Thank you for your worthwhile contributions.
I think whatever we say or write, we should have at the back of our minds that we are fighting a dictatorship. That being the case, we must seriously refrain from character distortion / unverified claims about people negotiating on our respective behalf’s. For so long the tyranny in Gambia survived because they are well refined in the art of sowing discord among us. The UDP has a leadership that is currently working with other peoples and parties for a common ground. Let’s trust and respect their judgement and desist from writing emotionally charged comments that are offending and risk undermine their spirit to compromise for the common good. We must never be tempted to blend out the dictatorship, while we await the outcome of the opposition negotiation. The tyranny is lurking around waiting for the next prey!
The arguments amongst the decent Gambians of Conscience sometimes heats up naturally, to the state of serving the “naked truth” (Jaala fato – Mandinka) to each another, as diverse humans; as a fraternity family, naturally bonded by birthright, citizenship & destiny it’s only through open deliberations & expressions & exchange of ideas in our searchings, whiles the politicians engaged in consultations with their ears wide open to variety of ideas approachable, to be utilized for collective betterments & improvements; the leaderships must know the ever-fermented (Baading-Bung Jaala-Fato – Mandinka) “bitter (naked) truth” will always be brought out & serve out at the table, when there happen to be eyes taken away from or off the ball…
All have admitted to the NEED & REASON for change come December; HOW to achieve this CAN’T be a problem with sincere negotiations into unison; we CAN’T afford to fail to mount a unified front this time around…
The time is well overdue; so the collective sensitization campaign for the candidate can begin in earnest to mobilise votes countrywide…
Long live the Gambia…