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Opposition Upbeat Ahead of Gambian Election
Sunday, 13 November 2011 15:18
(PANA) - The opposition in the small West African state of Gambia is upbeat ahead of the 24 November presidential
election as it urges the electorate to reject President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for the past 17 years. Hamat Bah, an independent candidate, who is being supported by four political parties, reminded voters about President Jammeh’s background as a military dictator saying “once a soldier, always a soldier”.Gambians should therefore not make the mistake of voting for him, warning that this would mean Gambians would continue to be under military disctatorship.
President Jammeh has been criticised for his poor human rights record.“We can together liberate Gambians from the military rule of (president) Jammeh and develop the country for all Gambians and non-Gambians,” he said at a rally on Friday. “Our mission is to liberate Gambians by releasing Gambians who have been convicted by the military regime of Jammeh for them to regain their freedom,” he told some 30,000 cheering supporters in Bundung Bo-hoe in Serrekunda ahead of the official campaign launch on Saturday. Bah is being supported in the election by the Gambia People’s Democratic Party (GPDP), National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD), National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). He alleged that President Jammeh was influencing the electorate with money and urged them to take the cash but not to vote for him. Sedia Jatta, leader of NADD, said the four parties had come together “to end slavery and maltreatment in the Gambia” adding that Bah resigned from NRP to join hands with the other parteis “to end slavery”. He explained that the constitution of the Gambia did not allow a party leader to head a coalition so Bah had to resign and stand as an independent candidate.
Henry Gomez of the GPDP also called on Gambians to support the independent candidate and appealed to the leader of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) leader, Ousainou Darboe, to join hands with the united front to wrest power from President Jammeh. The presidential election is being contested by Bah, Jammeh and Darboe. Seedy Jammeh, a supporter of the independent candidate, called for a united front to oust president Jammeh.
“One party cannot vote President Jammeh out of office. Gambia’s opposition parties need to come together and end the Jammeh regime,” he told PANA. Meanwhile, Sulayman Kujabi, an official of President Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction, said the incumbent president would win by a landslide and remain in power because he is the only man who can develop the Gambia. He listed President Jammeh’s achievements as including a television station, university, hospitals, high schools and heath centres.
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Comments
I don’t think Radio and TV is enough to say thank you but it's our values and norms to see face to face and share cola-nuts and pray to each other. This is what we are known for in the sub-region. It's not manufactured but words from mum that we don’t want to go against when advised. So if you see us firing someone at a time when we looking for people then known we always aim for the best. This is what makes us strong as a party to rely on.
First, don't pay much attention to the red/green marks....We all get them now and again...
We all heard the excuse and the manufactured appeal from his mum to go and thank the people...But Jammeh had just come back from a nation wide tour,funded by the tax payer...Why didn't he use that opportunity to thank the people...Does he really need to go up and down the country to thank the people...Is the TV and Radio broken down ? He's just fired his Youth Mobiliser,it is reported...So not everything is alright it seems...
Biram......
Thanks for the correction...(Gomez not Martin) Does not really matter to me...If Martin had made the call,my comment would have been the same...Lets all monitor the campaign...I'm sure we'll come back to this topic again...
As for who is contesting...I think everyone knows that...But let the United Front,or whatever you want to call it, worry about that...
No one is agreeing with me and am seeing red marks. Then I ask you to stop blaming each other its the APRC you want to fight. It will be interesting to see you fight while we become spectators. I will now not contribute but read you. Only remember that if you win I will be the first to cross carpet and please do consider me. Is some one even not making fun of us, using this site for hie job advertisment Or just as usual we are always on different platforms?
1. Who is contesting? United Front or an independent candidate? 2. Gomez not Martin. 3. Whether from UDP or the so-called United Front natural sense should tell them that we want the fight against Jammeh not the other way.
As you said it is past for all to come together then they should not simply be mentioning it. Common sense is not it?
Anyone looking for change it doesn’t matter even the opposition did campaign or not and with our change of mind to campaign, it's an advice from the mum that we should go and say thank you to the people for the 5yrs mandate that is ending. Bax my friends in the oppositions are teasing me these hours that why do we choose to campaign again but am telling them we are only going round to say thank you for the 5yrs that is coming to an end not asking anyone to vote for us. Our years work is enough for the electorate to make decisions. My brother but don’t blame if we win because the opposition have given more room for us to get the ones sitting on the fence by failing to unite of which most will conclude is personal interest and selfishness. To me politics is just a game and fun and those who fail to know how to play and involve themselves deeply pay the price.
The numbers are just estimates,proba bly exaggerated...but,I agree,that what matters is the number of votes (valid) that are cast for a candidate...
No APRC supporter should be 'pounding ' their chest if Jammeh wins because the entire system has been in his favour for 5yrs...The opposition only got some degree of freedom to operate in the last three to four months...Even police permits to hold simple meetings were denied...
So it is a big credit to the opposition that Jammeh has been forced to go back on his word (that he will not campaign ) and hit the campaign trail again...Whilst the opposition are allowed only 10days,APRC has double that because Jammeh has only recently completed a nation wide tour (campaign ) where he threatened some communities with no development if they fail to vote for him because he will know how many votes he received from those communities .
That's INTIMIDATION....
Thanks
We have puffed...and panted...and begged...and reasoned...and even screamed our heads off...for an opposition unity without success....but we have gone past that stage now... Whether the United Front is made up of one,two or three parties is irrelevant...It's contesting the elections...it's late for lawyer Martin to call for unity now but I don't see how that is against the UDP... I won't be surprised if UDP militants call for Hamat Bah to join them ... That's no attack or undermining each other...That's just politics....And we'll see a lot of that as the campaign progresses...
We are not thinking of winning but the margin and future reconciliation. They can triple the meeting attendance but what matters at the end how many voted. Good luck to the opposition all we preparing is future programs to deliver and improving on areas we are weak.
I want to beg that we stop naming NADD as a genuine party. Halifa came up with the idea and it led us to nowhere. He came up with a similar idea and is leading us to nowhere other than the so-called resignation and an independent candidate... a boost to Yahya Jammeh.
It looks ike he did not understood the constitution... hence the resignation (so-called) and the quagmire we are in just now.
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