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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Oct 2009 : 14:38:22
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Gambians Challenge Opposition Leaders
By Saikou Ceesay
In an interview with this reporter regarding the state of the opposition parties in this country, dozens of Gambians have expressed their dissatisfaction with the country’s opposition parties who they say have totally failed to unite under one umbrella, due to what they said is the leadership crisis besetting them.
Our reporter first went to the densely populated and major commercial centre at the Serrekunda market where women vendors and canteen owners, among others expressed their anxiety of the failure of opposition parties in this country. Accordingly, they claimed that the fact that heads of opposition political parties could not amicably chose a unanimous candidate to lead a coalition or an alliance means they are all interested in leadership of the country.
For Mariama Badjie a vegetable seller, formidable opposition parties are good in a country’s democracy as it will present an alternative to the ruling party or influence policy matters with regards to the developmental aspiration of citizens. “But this is not the case of our opposition parties, most of them are self centered. I personally understand that they are not interested in salvaging this country but instead keen on acquiring leadership by cheap popularity”, observed Badjie.
Assan Senghore, a canteen owner also indicated that he lacks confidence in the opposition parties and as a result, he was not active in voting during elections. For him, there is no strong opposition leadership in the country that can unseat the regime of President Jammeh. “Infact, they cannot deliver better than Jammeh because Jammeh is better than most of them when it comes to creativity and conceptualizing ideas with people. Some of this opposition party leaders feel that they know everything, deterring them from accepting other people’s ideas”, he remarked.
Senghore went on to say that the reason for the failure of the opposition parties to come up with one candidate for National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) is still on the dark side. He said this division forced him to speculate all sorts of things including boycotting elections. When asked why he refrained from voting as it is his right to go and vote for a candidate of his choice, he said he has no confidence in any of the candidates adding that there is no wisdom in voting in a person who can be removed by the President at any point in time. These are some of the reasons why I have not been voting during elections.
Alfusainey Manneh a shop keeper said he is optimistic that United Democratic Party (UDP) has strong leadership to bring about change in the country but was quick to add that it would have been better if parties unite under one party. “I know that NADD was not possible because of some leader’s interest in becoming head of NADD. You have the least supporters and still you want to lead those with the majority of supporters, common sense cannot allow that, they should be held responsible for the split of NADD and not the UDP”, Manneh posited.
For Jatou Darboe, in the past years the opposition has failed to unite under one umbrella, she questioned how would the opposition unite and defeat President Jammeh. “They said if they come to power, they will work to develop the Gambia but now, Jammeh is doing his quarter. I think it would be wise to support him in his endeavor as we are all Gambians. If they cannot work with him let them go and do other business and allow him to work,” said Darboe.
Janko Dibba, described the country’s opposition as failure. He said the opposition have been a disappointment throughout the history of this country; expressing his conviction that the opposition are not capable of unseating President Jammeh as they have not produced any credible alternative.
In his view, lack of resources is no excuse on the part of the opposition saying that what is needed is unity of purpose. Dibba said for one, the people of this country will never forgive the opposition in its entirety for failing to keep up the principles of the NADD coalition. He remarked that this factor, more than any other has contributed to voter apathy in this country.
“People have lost confidence in the political ranks of this country. The opposition should go back to drawing board, put back their houses in order, apologize to the Gambian people, and start from scratch to build a more formidable coalition. Thereafter, they can face the Gambian people once again,” Dibba said.
According to Lamin Sabally, President Jammeh is doing a lot for Gambians and that people should be proud of his leadership saying that he is a servant of the people as he fulfills his promise to Gambians. As Gambians, he said all should rally behind him and help him in achieving his dreams for the country. For him “God knows why the opposition parties remain weak. God judge us through our intentions. I am quite sure that God will not give a monster this country to rule,” said Sabally
To this end he urged Gambians to remain focused and follow the leadership of President Jammeh, adding that he leads this country by example.
Source: The Daily News
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