Thursday 2 February 2012

The Big Question: What Next After the Disappointing Presidential Election

My response to brother Joe Sambou who asked, 'why am I saying something on the debacle at Foroyaa, instead of the past Presidential elections.' Below is my response to him. The fact is, I have had many say on the stolen elections, I went out on a demonstration in London, wrote an article on it and still working in private consultation to device ways we can put an end to the tyranny.

The Presidential election is gone, never to come back for another five years. What is Suntou and Joe going to do about that? In my part I had my say on it in many other platforms, may be Joe missed out on them, because I did not say much about it here.In the case at hand, this is nothing about Halifa, Sam or Foroyaa, it is about the employees. And they too has rights like others we always wrote about.I am sure, you will not say, I have been unwilling to stake my opinion in the affairs of the Gambia. In as much has we may disagree on the ways to tackle our problems, Suntou has never been silent or inactive. If any, the few of us who stake our opinions here might have been too active.
The Presidential election did not effect the desired outcome and that's not a surprise, considering the fact that, the troops where disunited because of obvious reasons. And untangling those reasons will therefore take much more than discussions here. We have had many discussions on how to change direction for the future and in difficult struggles that is what matters. There are certain things that only those who see the change in a particular way will consult and discuss. This is what we are doing. Suntou and others you had in mind with your comments have done a lot, just like you and we will continue to do much more.

We in the UDP Diaspora had several inter-continental meetings and our final statements or take on issues have been long dispatched to those on the ground. Yes, some may want us speaking out important issues here (Gambia L), but that is the very wrong way to do any systematic political dialogue. We are still consulting and discussing.
The political activist on the ground made their position clear and they are sticking to that. Which is, they will not accept the election result, because of the fraud and many other reasons. And we backed that. What is clear is that, UDP activist in Diaspora overwhelmingly backed a strong reaction to the result and many in the Gambia also do, up to tomorrow. What is relevant now is the decision of many elders whose evaluation is crucial. And we accept their evaluations on the main, whilst many other avenues are been considered.

A singular political party action can still unrattle the cages of the tyrant, it may be at the cost of the lose of some lives, and that is a fundamental deciding factor.What everybody in Diaspora in all opposition camps will love to see, is an uncompromising street protest until the dictator falls, and believe it or not, the opposition leaders will love to be able to see such an eventuality.

The question is, how far will people be willing to join such a cause? How daring will the opposition leaders be in doing something out of character? Will new opposition leaders leave the perturbing moral question of 'what if many innocent people die, how will I answer to God for that'? Since the old guards have all done their best, will we young guns take the fight to the dictator or will we also be miles away with our tangible opinions?
So Joe, we are not quiet neither avoiding discussing anything, but we are formulating just like our dictator is, it will be foolish is to let him in on our strategies, because this platform here is a Bantaba, an open arena. In good time, we will find a way ahead, after all, this is our Baby we are talking about, Our Gambia. May God bless it. Thank you Suntou

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