Idle minds are on it again; PDOIS this, PDOIS that.. without any facts to base their arguments on. With all due respect to Mr Alieu Manjang and Max and their likes, you can never distort our history. It is already engraved in stone, so to say. Stop wasting your time and that of the people on fiction. We the Gambians should now be focusing on how to ensure a successful transition from a dictatorship to a genuine democratic dispensation instead of engaging in fiction writing and trying to present that as our history.
History already has it that PDOIS did not even have a representative in parliament neither was any of its members serving in the PPP government when the coup occurred on July 22nd 1994. Yet it was the only party that stood against the coup makers in defense of our democratic and constitutional rights and exert pressure on them for a return to constitutional order. This was at a time when most of the founding members of UDP [United Democratic Party] were either serving in the PPP government or in parliament or were senior members of the parties that constituted the UDP. None of these people whom the people voted into position of authority took a stand against the coup in its infancy either in defense of their own constitutional rights or of the people.
Mr Manjang and Max and their likes do not see it right to accuse these people of complicity with the coup makers but could accuse PDOIS whose leadership stood their ground against the coup makers and made it clear that they were ready to either go to prison or to their graves in defense of their constitutional rights and of the people.
The hard fact is Mr Manjang and Max and their likes, we were all confronted with a brutal and merciless tyrant who was bent on seizing all our rights and dictating to us in accordance with his whims and caprices from the start. You decided to surrender to him in the beginning due to fear of guns while we refused and stood our ground and were ready to go to our graves and in the process won the battle and were free to exercise our constitutional rights. Now if there is anyone who is to be blamed for complicity with the tyrant, it is you; by omission, not us. If there is anyone to be blamed for prolonging the stay of the tyrant and his tyranny, it is you; not us. If you had taken the position we took from the beginning the coup makers may not have been in power beyond twelve months.
History is inundated with facts that it was you [who were either serving in the PPP government or the then parliament or were senior members of parties that constitute UDP] who strengthened and prolonged the tyrannical regime of Yahya Jammeh from July 1994 to 2016 either by your actions or omissions ranging from your refusal to go into a tactical alliance with other parties and your boycott of the 2002 national assembly elections; your sudden and unexpected withdrawal from NADD in 2006 and your refusal to go into a genuine and fruitful alliance with other parties in 2011.
Fabaks
Ends
Seedia Jatta, Halifa Sallah and Mrs Sallah are all honourable people. Pdois must be seen as partner in developing the country and as an ally in getting back the country from tyranny.
Now that parties have the environment to operate freely, I enjoin that we descend into the competition of ideas. Lets not go out against our respective political leaders just for the sake of character assassination. Lets compete for ideas and inspirations. This is the only route to the betterment in conditions of our collective people. It must all be about pulling our diverse peoples out of poverty to a better lifes in dignity.
Idle minds, indeed, but good people must continue to counter their coordinated and sustained attacks against PDOIS and expose their misrepresentations, distortions and even outright lies against that party and its leadership.
It beggars belief, that rather than seize the opportunity the new political environment offers, to engage in fruitful, meaningful and educative debates and discussions, these people choose the dark path of vilification, misinformation, blame/fault finding futilities and falsehoods, to promote their political interests.
Perhaps, they feel threatened by a party that they have constantly dismissed as irrelevant, as the result of the quality of leadership Mr Sallah demonstrated during the impasse, and still continue to offer today, which is very much appreciated and admired by many.
Or may be, they just don’t know any other way of politicking. How else can these actions be viewed? Our country has serious challenges which, though aggravated by the Jammeh regime, have nonetheless, dogged us for the past 3/4 decades and some of these, like rising food prices, poorly equipped health facilities, unaffordable drugs, poor roads and road management systems, etc, are life threatening to many people and families.
Let’s see what the parties have to address these challenges? What does the UDP, GDC, NRP, PDOIS, NCP and GPDP intend to do to provide answers to these challenges. Let’s not forget unemployment, massive budget deficits (there won’t always be vehicles & land seized from Jammeh for sale), heavy debt burden, poor/non existent drainage systems causing floods every year, etc. The list is endless. Let’s here what solutions you have. Stop the misinformation, distortions and falsehoods.