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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Oct 2011 : 13:14:04
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THE POINT NEWS ‘Office of President not of value to Halifa Sallah’
"Monday, October 31, 2011
Halifa Sallah, Secretary General of the opposition Peoples Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), has said that the office of president or vice president is not of value to him, stressing that these positions are positions of service and not positions of privilege.
Halifa Sallah, who lost to incumbent President Yahya Jammeh in the 2006 presidential election after securing only 5.98% of the total votes cast, said though nobody is asking him not to seek the mandate of President or Vice President, he will not be seeking such office because he has grown up in Gambian society to be the conscience of a nation.
Sallah, who was speaking Saturday during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between four political parties, recalled that when he was struggling during the witchcraft scenario, many people said he was doing it to build his political statue for the 2011 elections.
“Now, by not seeking the office, I believe those people will know that the office of President or Vice President is not of value to Halifa Sallah,” he declared.
According to him, not seeking the office of President or Vice President, in next month’s poll, is the best thing he can do under the present circumstances to put integrity in the process and ensure that they win victory to salvage Gambians.
“I have earned respect in this country, and I will utilize that respect to ensure that this coming election will be violent free, detention free, arrest free and people will be able to go out and carry out their campaign without any fear of repression,” Sallah told a cheering crowd at the Atlantic hotel.
He stated that what they aim to do is to change the power that existing today, which he said is centralized, to a power that will devolve authority to the Gambian people forever.
“When the United Front takes over, we will not allow any leader to dominate Gambians, seize their freedom or force them to live in poverty and degradation from the cradle to the grave,” he said, adding that this what they commit themselves to.
For him, the MOU establishing the United Front has nothing that deprives anyone of them the right to seek political office.
“Come 3rd November, anyone of us has the right to seek the position of President or Vice President, and we will do so in the spirit of fairness and competition,” he added.
Author: Baboucarr Senghore"The Point
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Edited by - kobo on 31 Oct 2011 17:27:43 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2011 : 19:53:10
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THE DAILY NEWS;
Opposition Leaders Collapse into Tears as Halifa Declares He’ll Not Vie for Presidency
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
"When some Gambian opposition parties met at Atlantic Hotel on Saturday to sign a memorandum of understanding for a united front ahead of the Nov.24 presidential polls, the last thing the participants expected to see was shedding of tears. Not at least from veteran politician Sedia Jatta, the National Assembly member for Wuli West and Hamat Bah, leader of opposition National Reconciliation Party (NRP).
But both Sedia Jatta and Hamat Bah did collapse into tears as Halifa Sallah, secretary general of PDOIS declared to the well-attended meeting that he will not vie for the presidency come Nov.24.
If Halifa had taken anyone off the guard, it was Hamah Bah and Sedia Jatta. Hamat, who managed to blot out few words between his sobs, could be heard saying that he spoke to Halifa three days before the day, but the 2006 presidential candidate never mentioned to him that he will not contest for presidency.
Mr Halifa Sallah, an outspoken social scientist cum politician led the disintegrated National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) in the 2006 presidential race after main opposition-UDP and NRP quit the alliance over the selection of a standard bearer. The presidential race wasn’t a successful one for neither him nor the UDP-NRP alliance. Both lost to president Jammeh, heavily.
Ahead of this year’s presidential polls, when UDP initiated talks among opposition parties for a united front with a proposal for a UDP led alliance, Mr Sallah however made an alternative proposal – a convention, which was eventually embraced by all, save UDP and PPP. Now that Halifa Sallah, who is apparently, the architect of the convention, declares that he will not stand, the parties in alliance – PDOIS, NADD, NRP and GPDP are expected to meet on Wednesday to select a flag bearer.
Author: Saikou Jammeh"Daily News |
Edited by - kobo on 04 Nov 2011 02:30:59 |
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