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We are indeed disappointed but not down for good-Says STGDP on the elections results!
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We are indeed disappointed but not down for good-Says STGDP on the elections results!
Press Release:
The General elections of 2006 is now history, and STGDP join the entire
Gambian community to echo our disappointment and hearth ache with the
results of the presidential elections. As an organization, our mission
is to see the adoption of an election process whereby there is a
reasonable level playing field, the building blocs of democracy, and
ultimately the Gambian people having the final say in the outcome of
all elections. Presidential elections 2006 were far from that.
Musa Jeng
The
registration process – an important component to a free and fair
election was the first sign of weakness in the process, and the
beginning of the fraud. Secondly, for the third time the removal of
Chairman of the IEC with the total disregard to the Constitution of the
Gambia reinforced a fraud in the making. Finally, the abuse of the
office of the Executive, over utilization of his incumbency status with
intimidation and scare tactics was the final nail in the coffin for his
reelection. President Jammeh might have been reelected for the next five years, with a supposedly clear
mandate, but the reality is that Gambia is still confronted with the
absence of democracy, rule of law and the Gambian people are yet to be
given a fair say to the direction of their country.
After the 2001 General elections, with a similar feeling that we are
yet again confronted with, we hunkered down and decided to come up with
a battle plan. The plan was very simple, to remove tyranny under
Jammeh, replace it with a system that would bring about a level playing
field for all political parties, and build the institutions of
democracy that would give all Gambians the opportunity to have a say in
the direction of our country. The plan was to facilitate a coalition of
opposition parties, raise the necessary funds, provide them with the
ability to communicate to the Gambian people, and to fight tooth and
nail to prevent stealing of the election... STGDP believed that this
was a viable plan and the best strategy to effectively contest the 2006
presidential election. The coalition of opposition parties was created,
funds were been raised with the help of local chapters in the entire
USA and a Radio station was installed directly beamed to the Gambia. In
the early part of t
he coalition, funds were raised, interviews were conducted with the
leaders of the coalition over the Radio and there was excitement and
expectation among all Gambians. Our successes in the by- elections were
clear indications that the plan has legs and ultimately can prevail.
The NADD coalition was seen by many Gambians both in Diaspora and home
as a good shot at bringing an end to tyranny. The NADD coalition
disintegrated, and the hopes of most Gambians spiral to hopelessness,
and resulted to emotional warfare among the factions of the breakup
coalition. STGDP, an organization tied like an umbilical cord to the
NADD coalition, also experienced fracture within its ranks which led to
the beginning of our impotency and ineffectiveness. The reality was
that the opposition was relying on the single durable support from the
voices of the Diaspora; unfortunately, that voice was nowhere to be
found and the cyber warriors high jacked the plan. STGDP became
impotent, and fairly or unfairly was seen as a partisan and was never
able to put things back together... In the absence of a single voice of
the Diaspora, the cyber warriors redirected their efforts to fight the
survival of their parties’ agendas. That was the beginning of the end
for a serious challenge to
the Jammeh tyranny. Just like the enthusiasm in the Diaspora, our
cousins back home saw the disintegration of the coalition as the last
hope, and begin to entertain the idea of another five year term under
tyranny. As President Jammeh fought for his re-election, he even fast
forwarded the election calendar to prevent us from any chance of
putting it back together.
Now the rest is history. President Jammeh and his supporters are busy
celebrating their landslide victory. Just like us in the Diaspora, the
voters back home saw the disintegration as the beginning of the end for
our chance of putting out our best and effective armor to fight an
effective battle to uproot an entrenched tyrant. We failed to put our
best plan to counter a formidable foe, and unfortunately we lost.
Finally, STGDP would like to thank all Gambians living in the Diaspora.
As a people we refused to give up on our country. Even though, we are
living better across the board: better access to clean drinking water,
better access to health care, better access to shelter, better access
to quality education, better access to liberty, freedom and basic
rights as human beings. These are the very things we are fighting for,
and would like to see that one day Gambians in the entire country will
have access to these rights. Abject and extreme poverty is indeed a
violation of human rights, and we will continue to fight to bring an
end to all forms of violation of human rights in the Gambia. For us
living in the Diaspora, we will continue to disagree, fight sometimes
ferociously, but in the final analysis it is worth it because the
survival of our self is at stake. For STGDP, we are indeed disappointed
but not down for good, we will regroup and will continue to find ways
to make a difference in our quest to find peace and prosperity in the
Gambia. The next game plan has just begun.
Thanks
STGDP |
Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 (Archive on Monday, October 30, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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