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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 04:04:58
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KEY POINTS SUMMARY OF NEW YEAR MESSAGE ON SALIENT ISSUES AND PDOIS RESOLUTIONS FOR 2011:-
- Compatriots, 2011 is not an ordinary year. It is a year of contemplation, stock taking and decision making. Awareness is the key to sound decision making. The APRC is transforming the year to one of patronage and fanfare. PDOIS will transform it into a year of information sharing and awareness raising so that patronage and fanfare will not stifle the sovereign will of the Gambian people to become the architects of their own destiny.
- We, the PDOIS leadership, wish to draw the attention of the leaders of all the political parties in The Gambia in particular and all civic leaders in general to our irrevocable duty to ensure that we build a Gambia where all may live in prosperity, freedom and peace each day. It is our candid view that wherever there is prosperity and liberty there will be unity, peace and happiness.
- Political parties have the duty to enact the instruments, build the institutions and formulate the policies that should bring about the prosperity; freedom and peace that the people need and aspire to, once they are given the mandate to lead. They must make preparation to meet those needs and aspirations while waiting as opposition forces to be given the opportunity to lead. This signifies the essence of a functioning multiparty system.
- We therefore hope that the leadership of all political parties in the country shall bear in mind that leadership is not an entitlement or a right ascribed to be monopolised by any particular individual, family, ethnic group or other lineages; on the contrary, it is a duty to be entrusted by the people, irrespective of their individual characteristics, to persons of their choice regardless of their origin. This duty to lead should be performed to promote the welfare of all, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.
- Today no Gambian leader could be considered genuine unless he or she accepts in both word and deed, that power belongs to the people and that he or she is their mere servant.
- Hence any national who wants to lead without deriving legitimacy from the consent of the Gambian people, through periodic free and fair elections is not fit to lead a Republic in the twenty first century. In the same vein, any one who harbours personal ill-will or hatred for any other national is not fit to preside over the fate of a Republic. A genuine leader of the Republic must have a heart and mind which speak the language of truth and justice. Such a leader must be ready to perpetrate injustice to none and do justice to all without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
- As we move towards another decisive phase in the political history of the country we hope the heart of each political leader would speak the language that befits a person who leads or aims to lead; a sovereign Republic and a Sovereign people.
- In this new year, we wish to renew our promise and commitment to combat and eradicate the last vestiges of monarchical despotism from our homeland. We will follow the monarchists to every nook and crane of the country to oppose and expose their decadent vision of our people as subjects who need a King. We will sow the seed of sovereignty in every Gambian heart and mind so that no single Gambian who has an iota of dignity in him or her would ever be proud to be a subject or slave to his or her fellow human being. We shall record their anachronistic and decadent views.
- Notwithstanding our determination to combat the monarchists, we would like to give assurance that a crown shall never be worn by the head of a Gambian on Gambian soil. That is the verdict of history and political science and it is irrevocable. That is the duty we owe to preserve the legacy of Edward Francis Small, the pioneer of the National Liberation struggle for Self Determination and Independence.
- Secondly, the PDOIS leadership is currently aware that many people, who claim to be supporters of the opposition, are straining their vocal chords to perpetuate the view that 2011 is already a lost cause for the opposition. They claim that the main problem is PDOIS and UDP who are engaged in a power struggle. Instead of helping the Gambian people to know what PDOIS and UDP are proposing to effect democratic change in the country and then decide which strategy or tactic could lead us to achieve our aim of effecting Democratic change in the country, they are busy sowing the seed of political apathy by indicating that the victory of the APRC is inevitable. They have made themselves self appointed prosecutors and judges who are already identifying who to blame if their self fulfilling prophecy were to materialise. Those who resign to the inevitability of APRC victory and are comfortable in preparing their charge sheets before it happens are in fact accomplices of the APRC. Every word they utter kills hope instead of keeping it alive. Such people are perpetuators of voter apathy. They are in fact part of the problem. Just ask them whether PDOIS is proposing for UDP to endorse a PDOIS candidate. They would confirm that PDOIS is not and has never called on the UDP to endorse a PDOIS candidate. Ask them further whether PDOIS has not said that if a member of the UDP is selected at a primary by the people we will support the person and they would confirm that those are our very words. Where then is the power struggle between UDP and PDOIS?
- Some people have approached us to question why the UDP is not automatically endorsed to lead a coalition. We have indicated to such people that in 2006 NRP endorsed the leadership of the UDP but the results revealed that UDP did not add the number of votes the NRP had in 2001 to its results in 2006; on the contrary, it even had less votes than it had in 2001. Hence automatic endorsement does not necessarily lead to the desired results. We have told people that if we sincerely want change we must find out the causes of voter apathy and deal with it.
- Hence we want to be heard loud and clear that Agenda 2011 is not hatched to deprive the UDP of leadership. We, the PDOIS leadership, are not engaged in any power struggle with any opposition party. We came to the realisation that the number of people who did not vote at all was more than the number of people who voted for either President Jammeh or the other opposition Candidates combined. It is therefore clear that if one concentrates on the votes of those who voted for the opposition alone we would not be assured of victory in 2011. How are we to inspire the majority who did not vote to vote, and draw more voters from the camp of the ruling party to add to the camp of those who voted for the opposition, is the challenge that the opposition parties have to address in 2011. We called for a multi partisan primary to select one candidate for the opposition to contest the presidential election so that the candidate would automatically receive a multi party backing. We propose for the primary to be open to Independent Candidates so that the politically apathetic who do not support political parties would be drawn onboard because of the broad options.
- We are also proposing for the victor to serve for only one term like Nelson Mandela because of the multi partisan nature of his or her selection and election. In short, a person who receives a mandate from protest votes should not lead on a partisan or personal basis but should satisfy the rectification demands of the electorate and create a level ground for individuals and parties to contest and get the mandate of the people on the basis of their policies and programmes. PDOIS policy is clear and without any ambiguity. It should be explained to the people and leave them to decide whether it is acceptable to them or not. Those who disagree with our position should formulate options to put before the people.
- Let the future generation be informed that history has its fatalists and doubters. Edward Francis Small had to combat their fatalism to sow the seed of National Liberation in the Gambia. We will proceed to sow the seed of the sovereignty of the people and complete the democratic Revolution to its fullest phase to ensure that each Gambian recognises his or her sovereign power to determine the destiny of this country and entrusts that sovereign power to those who would guarantee their enjoyment of liberty, dignity and prosperity.Those who perpetuate this notion that 2011 is a lost cause for the opposition are on the wrong side of history.
- What all Gambians who wish the country well and who are truly committed to democratic change should be saying is that, the APRC leadership has already overstayed. 30 years of one person leadership in the first Republic and 17 years of one person leadership in the second Republic is enough. We need a Government that will have the political will to create the instruments, Institutions and political culture which will make it impossible for one person to preside over the affairs of the Republic for more than ten years. Genuine democrats in the Gambia should spare no effort in campaigning for an end to self perpetuating rule in the Gambia.
- This calls for them to innovate strategies and tactics to overcome the disadvantage. The Gambian people should evaluate each strategy and tactics to determine what could be more effective in yielding the desired results. The entire wrangling or clamour between so called UDP and PDOIS supporters is not based on evaluation of strategies and tactics put forward by the two parties to effect democratic change in 2011.
- Critics rely on this to claim that the UDP and PDOIS are on each other’s throat. As far as PDOIS is concerned Gambia belongs to all Gambians and each has a right to elect or be elected. We have no qualms in any person being elected president. We will continue to serve the people as dictated by times and circumstances regardless of who is elected President. PDOIS does not stand for the politics of personality and character assassination. We are spending more time on the discourse about strategy and tactics between opposition forces because of the elimination of the second round of voting. Otherwise we would have called on all opposition parties to intensify their campaign to win enough votes to deprive the incumbent of 50 percent of the votes cast in the first round.
- Our proposals are not recipes. They are articles of good faith which should be reciprocated by the formulation of other proposals that could be put in the public space for consideration by the voters.
- Those who are inciting hatred among the opposition forces are also on the wrong side of history. The supporters of opposition parties are fully aware that if they head towards confrontation they will all end up being losers.It is the partisan elites who could even leave opposition parties and join the ruling party when it suits them who are the hardliners and who have become masters in peddling fiction as facts.
- PDOIS respects the sovereignty of all persons and associations of persons in the form of political parties. We do not seek to dictate to anyone. Our focus is the sovereign Gambian people whose will and aspirations should dictate the policies of parties. Those who believe that they could win elections without coalitions should go ahead with their campaign on their own. We are convinced that charismatic leaders with a solid mass base like Nelson Mandela and Tumani Touray could rise up at the eleventh hour and create a wave for change. If we had such a personality in the Gambia he or she could call on people to give him or her support for change. Leaders and parties who should demand automatic recognition to lead a coalition are those who have a winnable support base. Those parties like PDOIS that is of the view that divided and apathetic votes cannot bring about democratic change should continue to put their proposals before the voters. They the voters would ultimately indicate which proposal will be able to unify the people of different parties and awaken the apathetic from their slumber.
- PDOIS is responding to every burning issue in this country, the sub region, the continent and the world. PDOIS supporters should not be diverted to a discourse on the peculiarities of political leaders or pass judgment on behalf of the voters. They should draw the attention of others on PDOIS’ position on all issues of National importance and then ask the people to judge whether those positions are in the interest of our people in particular and the people of the world in general. This is the task of a genuine party supporter and not the trading of insults, subterfuges and tirades.
- As for the issue of a coalition in the coming elections, we are convinced that with the elimination of the second round of voting there is need to prevent the voters from being apathetic or divided. We have endorsed a strategy on the way forward and all parties who also have the aim to combat political apathy and the division of voters should come up with their strategy and tactics on how to achieve our common aim.These strategies and tactics should be forwarded to the voters in good faith so that they will exercise their minds to determine what is acceptable to them. We therefore call on all PDOIS supporters to devote their time on the task of telling the people the strategies and tactics that are being put forward to create a formidable opposition force for Democratic change in 2011. Clarity, conviction, openness and willingness to debate in good faith are the tools PDOIS supporters need to be part of the solution of the problems of the Gambia. Those who incite hatred and fatalism have no place in PDOIS:
- There is no need for any one to despair. Where there is sincerity, clarity and conviction all difficulties will be surmounted to attain victory. The people of the Gambia should pay a deaf ear to any political leader who seeks to sow the seed of despair. Leaders are inspirers and problem solvers and not prophets of gloom and doom. They create possibility where others see only impossibility. We therefore call on all political leaders who wish to earn respect to desist from claiming that a coalition between parties is made impossible by hatred and insincerity.
- Coalitions are not formed based on love, otherwise, Gbagbo and Soro of Cote d’Ivoire would not have been able to be part of the same Government. Coalitions come about through the dictates of interest, time and necessity. This is why the NCP came to form a Coalition with the APRC. This is why NDAM is able to work with APRC today. This is why NRP forged a link with UDP. Neither UDP nor NRP would accuse the other of harbouring members imbued with hatred and insincerity to cause their split. In our view, it is interest, time and circumstances which led to the split. The task of finding out causes is left to historians and academics. Political leaders and political activists should focus on combating political apathy and any division among the voters who want democratic change. Those who make it their duty to inspire the apathetic to become active and the voters who want change to endorse tactics and strategies that will unify them are part of the solution. Those who incite hatred among the voters and spread the view that the cause of democratic change is lost are part of the problem. They are the ones who will be indicted by history for having failed to act in accordance with the dictates of the public interest and the exigencies of our times and circumstances.
- We, the PDOIS leadership, are convinced that a Grand Coalition of the People is necessary and possible if democratic change is to be effected in 2011. We are convinced that there is no gulf that is wide enough between the opposition that cannot be bridged in the interest of the people.
- In our view, opposites could be united by common interest, especially if the interest is the public interest. What is necessary is to create democratic instruments and institutions which could permit them to cooperate to serve the public interests despite their diversity. This is the mechanism which binds parliaments where one has opposition and ruling parties. It is instruments and institutions which enabled opposites to coexist in NADD. This is why we also instituted that if the party leaders did not agree on a candidate the people will be left to select one at a primary to ensure that a multi partisan choice of the people emerged. Since ultimate victory in an election would have to come from the votes of diverse party or non party members; PDOIS sacrificed its individual party interest to be part of NADD.
- In a normal multi party system each party should struggle to earn the trust and confidence of the people by its own policies. We do not have a normal multi party system. There is no second round. It is therefore prudent for the opposition to have their own first round as a tool to get every one involved. In our view, an alliance of the people irrespective of party affiliation is the most durable form of alliance. An Alliance of parties in the absence of a second round is proving through practice to be the least durable form of alliance since any party or individual could abandon the alliance at the eleventh hour and rely on the most precarious pretext to justify its action. We are firmly convinced that democratic change is desirable and possible and we will do our best to ensure that a viable opposition candidate emerges to contest the 2011 Presidential elections. This is the verdict of the popular will and common sense and it is incontrovertible.
- PDOIS wishes to alert all Gambians that democratic change is only possible if the people have the aspiration and exercise the will power to make it possible.
Halifa Sallah PDOIS Leader
RELATED BANTABA GAMBIAN POLITICS TOPIC UDP Leader's New year message UNDER http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10196
Also Gainako on-line news PDOIS'S Comprehensive New Year Message 2011 And Policy outlines under http://www.gainako.com/news/news/2011/01/25/pdoiss-comprehensive-new-year-message-2011-and-policy-outlines-.html
RELATED ISSUES WITH MAAFANTA.COM Pa Samba Jow , PDOIS, 8 Quick Questions UNDER http://www.maafanta.com/PaSambaJowPdoisMaafantaquickquestions.html
" PDOIS is here to stay and will continue to defend the rights of the Gambian people in spite of the peril. PDOIS will talk to all the other opposition parties with the hope of forging an acceptable coalition that will empower the Gambian people with the sole objective of restoring the sovereignty of the people and widening of the democratic space in the Gambia"`Pa Samba Jow POIS Militant
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Edited by - kobo on 27 Jan 2011 12:44:04 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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dembis
Sweden
71 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2011 : 16:30:08
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| nice piece kobo. politicians should talk about the recent problems on the ground so we the voters can trust them. both pdois and udp have some good ideas but they need to take risks and take the president to a debate. viva la gambia. |
dembis |
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shaka
996 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2011 : 17:34:14
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| Great and clear cut thinking from Mr Sallah and the PDOIS leadership with their New Year Message. As always they espouse earnestness, sincerity and astute visionary leadership when all else seem to be a lost cause. Some day, the greater majority of the Gambian people will come to appreciate their works and vision for a better Gambia. |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2011 : 18:20:48
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"We ask all our citizens to be an integral part of the change they seek by getting involved in whatever capacity suits them.Change is always a difficult task and along the way it is easy to become despondent, fearful, tired, angry, and sometimes be tempted to throw in the towel. But because the cause we have embarked upon is a just one that must be pursued, we must all strive harder to achieve these important goals. We however, can do it only if we come together as one and face the opponent. This cause is bigger than any individual or group of individuals."Lawyer Ousainou Darboe (Leader)UDP New Year Message
ADDRESSED TO ALL CITIZENS  |
Edited by - kobo on 03 Feb 2011 18:25:43 |
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sankalanka
270 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2011 : 19:19:43
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"Great and clear cut thinking from Mr Sallah and the PDOIS leadership with their New Year Message. As always they espouse earnestness, sincerity and astute visionary leadership when all else seem to be a lost cause. Some day, the greater majority of the Gambian people will come to appreciate their works and vision for a better Gambia."
Shaka, I share the same sentiments. No matter how long it may take, the true democratic aspirations of the Gambian people will firmly take root in our soil. This is made more certain by the clarity of purpose, the sense of sincerity, and the depth of vision and loyalty to their mission that the PDOIS leadership and its members are committed to.
They want change, but they are not interested in change just for the sake of change. We also want change but we are not interested in change just for the sake of change.
Rene
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shaka
996 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2011 : 20:09:45
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| Excellently put Sanka. They have and will always inspire generations. Yal na len fi Yalla yagal!!! |
Edited by - shaka on 03 Feb 2011 20:12:14 |
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2011 : 22:11:12
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| Thank god, there are some people who have better vision, unlike UDP and its clueless members, exist in Gambia. I still think, there is a long way, there will be a change in Gambia because of lack of wealth, middle class, literate and educated people. While I like him, Halifa Sallah will not be understood and appreciated maybe another 20 years, until society of gambia became wealthier, more educated, and more experienced with the political process. PDOIS should forget about unity talk and just go along. Slowly but surely, in the long term, they can make a change. But for now, for the sake of stability and continues economic development god bless the 'king'. |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
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