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Editorial:The Fall of Jammeh-Gambians Go To The Polls Today!!!!
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Editorial:The Fall of Jammeh-Gambians Go To The Polls Today!!!!
Gambians To Change Jammeh Today Through Democratic means!
Jammeh's Plans To Leave Office Violently Can Averted By Popular Vote....
The Race For The State House In High Gears!!
EDITORIAL
 Today is the D day for Gambia's much talked about
Presidential elections. Three candidates are vying for the Presidency,
Messrs incumbent President Yahya Jammeh, UDP'S Ousainou Darboe and
Halifa Sallah of NADD. By mid-night Gambian time, a new President would
be named by the chairman of Independent Electoral Commission. This
year's race would be interesting. Interesting in the sense that so many
things had happened under Jammeh's watch in a span of 12 years. Rights
abuses, extra judicial killings, disappearances and torture of
political detainees has been the order of the day. The regime is also
being hunted by many unfulfilled promises to its people. Today, the
Gambian people have the opportunity to effect regime change without any
blood shed. Let play by the democratic culture during the voting
period. Parties running for the presidency should be honest and humble
enough to respect the wishes and aspiration of the Gambian people.
Anything sort of this, would be unacceptable. Let justice guide our
actions and be ready to accept change. Despots like Jammeh have no
place in any civilized world. Jammeh should remember that the will of
the people is more powerful than his hired killers. We expect Jammeh to
be humble enough to concede defeat if any of the opposition leaders
emerge victorious. Jammeh should give up his calculated plan to use
Casamance guest voters to facilitate his so called victory. In a free,
fair and transparent elections, Jammeh cannot make it this time around.
The entire country are upset with him. Jammeh is a threat development
and world peace. He got to go in the interest of national
reconciliation and development.
  
Darboe Jammeh Sallah
The opposition leaders should
not be intimidated by the high presence of uniform men in the streets
of Banjul and its surroundings. During these hours, Jammeh would be
playing all kinds of intimidatory tactics in order to send some of his
opponents into hiding. He will use his top security chiefs to prevail
on either Darboe or Sallah to concede defeat. There is nothing bad in
one conceding defeat, but it has to be done in good faith without
pressure from any quarters. Today's elections would determine if
Gambians are truly committed to regime change. If it happens that they
voted for Jammeh as did in previous years, then so be it. Gambian
voters should open their eyes and face the current realities of the
day. Voting for Jammeh means disaster and underdevelopment for the
Gambia. There is no way that Jammeh can turn over the ailing economy
together and restore economic and political prosperity. Our country is
sinking and we expect voters to remain united to send Jammeh packing.
The
military should remain in their barracks and allow people to choose
their candidate of choice. You should refused to be used as political
tool for the incumbent. You will be doing great disservice to your
profession and the Gambian tax payers if you resort to openly
supporting President Jammeh. Jammeh will one day leave and the state
shall remain. Be professional in the way and manner you discharge your
duty.
We at the Freedom Newspaper believed that once citizens
are denied the right to select the President of their choice,
lawlessness and impunity would be the order of the day. In situations
of that nature, the incumbent ruled by force and caresless if the
constitution which is the supreme law of the land is applied to the
letter. Such leaders discriminate their own people in terms of
developmental projects, jobs and so forth. This is what obtains in
today's Gambia. Yahya Jammeh is playing divide and rule politics. He
has not only destroyed the fabric of society in our country, but had
also undermined the nation's cherished peace. Freedom is alien to
Gambians. People are no longer free to speak their minds on national
issues. The NIA'S usually mount 24 hours surveillance round the clock to
monitor what people say about the president and what not. This is not
the type of Gambia we wish our country. The choice is ours to remove
Jammeh through democratic means.
The best way to discourage
coups and counter coups in Africa is to nurture the democratic process.
In the doing so, we must hasten to add that there must be a term limit
attached to the presidency. Self perpetual rule in most cases leads to
uncertainty and gross rights abuses. Leaders like Jammeh have no plans
to gracefully leave office in the short term. For Jammeh he prefers to
die on the Presidential throne than to leave at this hour, which is
very regrettable. Leaders like Jammeh believed in violent departure
from office since they came through violent way. But we as peaceful and
law abiding Gambians believed in promoting the democratic process to effect
change of leadership. If Jammeh chooses to leave through violent
means, then so be it. Let him hang himself by the day. Due to greed and
lack of faith despots like Jammeh ends in disgrace.
We know
the fears of Jammeh. He is afraid to be tried by any new government
that come into play. Indeed, the trial of Jammeh is inevitable. The
amount of atrocities committed by Jammeh cannot go unpunished. He would
be held accountable for all the atrocities he committed during his
watch. He can run, but he cannot hide. Justice would be meted out to
him sooner or later. Gambians wronged by Jammeh including this editor
would one day testify against him in an open court. That day Jammeh
will cry and seek for forgiveness. We are determined to pursue justice
come what may.
As we vote today, our people should bear in mind
that the future of our country is in their hands. Voting for Jammeh
means voting for retrogress. The country is currently under wrong
hands. Under Jammeh, we are not assured of political freedoms. Let us
vote wisely and remember that this shameless despot is a menace to
society. He has nothing to offer to Gambians, beside his culture of
killing, torture and persecution. God luck to the people of the Gambia
and her people. Down with the APRC and Yahya Jammeh.
The editor can be reached at the following addresses:editor@freedomnewspaper.com or panderry_mbai@yahoo.com If you know that it is happening or is about to happen please contact us. The Freedom Newspaper is your leading and most trusted source of news. We have the required number of professionals to serve you round the clock. At Freedom we mean business.
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Posted on Thursday, September 21, 2006 (Archive on Monday, October 30, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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