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Momodou
Denmark
11614 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Apr 2014 : 21:20:40
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POLITICAL DIALOGUE RESUMES BUT TAIWAN KEPT AWAY AT ARMS LENGTH
Foroyaa Editorial: Published on Friday, 11 April 2014
Experts in international relations claim that there are no permanent friends and permanent enemies in international politics. There is only permanent interest. Of course this is only true in cold war political environment where big powers compete for spheres of influence and small states pick and choose under whose tutelage they prefer to roost.
Taiwan is still struggling to be accepted as a Republic. In that regard, the Peoples’ Republic of China has been conducting diplomacy to prevent that . Sooner or later the two states and one people solution or one state, one people and two systems solution would prevail.
States that pursue what Foroyaa calls Cheque Book Diplomacy would embrace and abandon Taiwan base on economic interest. Many have done so to mend fence with the People’s Republic.
The Gambia has not explained what principle led it to embrace or break diplomatic ties with Taiwan. If it abandons advocacy for Taiwan’s statehood at the UN and develop ties with the People’s Republic then Cheque Book Diplomacy should be seen to be the underlying basis of Gambia Taiwan relations.
We will wait and see. However, post cold war relation between states should be based on principle of building a world fit for people to live in, a world where the sovereignty of the people prevails.
Under such a relation it is people who matter and as long as states have mutual interest in protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of the people, state to state; people to people and state to people relationship would thrive and flourish. Where governments are driven by economic interests alone vacillation, inconsistency and uncertainty must prevail in its relation to other countries.
When the Government of the Gambia took a unilateral posture is suspending the political dialogue Foroyaa made it clear that the allegations made by the Gambia government that its sovereignty was being challenged because of the issues raised during its political dialogue with the EU delegates are not backed by the agreement it had signed which binds it to a political dialogue. Dialogue by its very context connotes equal relation.
None of the parties’ freedom of expression is retrained. We considered its suspension of the political dialogue as a sign of weakness rather than a sign of sovereign resistance to domination.
No government which upholds the principles, letter and spirit of its constitution, protects the rights and promote the welfare of its citizenry would ever be afraid of a dialogue and would never hesitate to accept and rectify shortcomings in governance.
Any government which takes the moral high ground in international politics must not be afraid of scrutiny and must not suppress freedom of expression and democratic dissent.
The more a government could stand the test of scrutiny the more it is clad with the armour of legitimacy and integrity.
The more a government evade or suppress scrutiny the more it heads towards absolutism and absolute power corrupts absolutely says the old adage.
The political dialogue between EU and The Gambia has resumed at a time when the country is facing multiple economic and political challenges. External factors do influence governance but the internal factors are the real basis of change.
Political parties have promised congresses and vibrant engagement with the electorate.
Will they back their promises and give the country a new lease of political life? The future will tell. Notwithstanding, the Gambian people should know that the EU, even if it is not for the sake of principle, has to be concern with Governance in partner countries to stem the tide of political refugees.
The duty of African governments is to make their countries fit for their citizens to live in rather than seek refuge abroad.
The political dialogue is therefore here to stay. Foroyaa will therefore continue to monitor the political dialogue and convey the outcome to the people.
In that regard, press conferences or press releases after every dialogue would be the best avenue to keep the public informed.
Source: Foroyaa
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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POLITICAL DIALOGUE RESUMES BUT TAIWAN KEPT AWAY ..
