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Breaking News:Gambians should no longer call Jammeh a "Dictator"-He has the mandate of the people-Says Juwara!
By A Staff Writer

"The people have spoken.That's left with the opposition to honestly interpret what the people have said because power belongs to the people. They must control and direct the process.That is what happened. Yahya Jammeh can no longer be called a dictator because he subject himself to the will of the people in a free and fair elections.My initial position on Jammeh as a dictator has changed because you can no longer call him a dictator. He subject himself to the will of the people in a free and fair elections. He has the mandate of the people. Call a spade, a spade. A victory on his case cannot be attributed to any rigging, intimidation or any possible inducement.This is the beginning of a democratic process and the next step should be good governance." These were the exact words of Lamin Waa Juwara's an arch critic of President Yahya Jammeh. Mr.Juwara who recognized Jammeh's mandate maintains that it would be wrong for Gambians to call Jammeh a dictator since he had been democratically elected. In a rare move, Juwara widely known as the Niamina Dankunku lion openly congratulated the APRC leadership for winning what he calls a free, fair and credible elections."I must also tell you that the elections were free and fair. And the IEC team conducted the elections satisfactorily.The APRC won because of unity and good team work. They deserved congratulations. They worked as a team, let the opposition fail to act together to the disappointment of those of us who decided to stay in NADD. I floated the idea of a tactical alliance and the Executive declared their willingness for a tactical alliance and the UDP politely rejected it by saying that they were going to put up candidates everywhere. They played the role of a spoiler. And that how we come to where we are today."Mbarodi tells the Freedom Newspaper in an exclusive interview at his Brikama residence during the weekend.

Mr.Juwara says his move to congratulate the APRC should not be misinterpreted in any way. He says the APRC deserved a tap on the back for coming out with such a landslide victory ever in the country's body politics."We have to be very objective. We have a democracy. I will accept honourable defeat. It's free and fair elections. There is nothing wrong with it."Juwara maintains.

Mr.Juwara then picked on the UDP/NRP alliance accusing them of committing a political suicide by pulling out of NADD. "The results are very self explanatory. They killed themselves by pulling out of NADD. If you pull out of NADD then you die and that exactly what happened. It is not the APRC that kills the opposition, but the opposition itself. The results have made it absolutely clear that the opposition betrayed the people and the people punished them for it. It is clear that something is fundamentally wrong with the opposition. You cannot attribute the failure to anything but leadership. We have tried to pursue personal ambition rather than pursuing the interest of the people. What had happened now is very clear. That disunited opposition leadership can never deliver. If compile set of the opposition in parliament with five seats including one independent, the situation is very serious."Juwara lamented.

Mr.Juwara says Gambians no longer have confidence in the opposition and it's time for the old guard in the opposition to consider giving chance to the country's new breed of politicians to lead. "We have to go to the drawing board expand decisions and either to quit or allow other new breed of politicians to lead because Darboe has reduced the UDP to its burial ground. Hamat is no longer a factor in Gambian politics. And if those are people that claimed to command the following of the majority in the opposition, then really there is no meaningful opposition in the Gambia. The defeat on this scale is unprecedented in the history of Gambian politics. And I think the reason behind it all is disunity, which have created contradictions to such an extent that the people have lost faith in the opposition in the Gambia. I have all the time in my mind that without a tactical alliance our bid to parliament would be of the same scale of defeat like that of the presidential elections. As a result, I decided not to contest and to come back home and reconcile our people, which have resulted to the peace and harmony in Niamina Dankunku. I have also considered Hamat Bah a spoiler when the UDP/NRP rejected a tactical alliance. I strongly feel that the only way to contain a spoiler is to spoil him because they decided to put up a candidate against Halifa Sallah at Serre-Kunda Central with the aim of destroying NADD. I therefore travelled to Niamina and asked my supporters not to vote for the NRP candidate in Niamina. Luckily for us, Hamat lost his seat in Saloum and all his candidates lost their seats especially those in Niamina. I think this have sent strong signals to him that unity is strength, stronger. They were seeking their own political gains when they walked out of NADD. Because of inconsistency,Kemsseng Jammeh lost his seat in Jarra West. And if UDP, can only win four seats out of 48 and to putting up 29 parliamentary candidates, they must know that they can be going alone. They don't have the leadership, they don't have the support and they don't have the resources."Juwara posited.

Mr.Juwara says the best bait for Darboe and Bah is to gracefully resign from active politics since in his ow words"They have betrayed the Gambian people by putting personal interest ahead of national interest." The opposition he went on" have failed because we failed to unite. It's all about personal leadership ambition. And now they pay the price.The first thing they should do is to resign because they have failed. They nolonger have the confidence of the people."

For Hamat Bah, he went on"has been rejected by his people. He want to come to Niamina to play the tribal card. There is no tribalism in Niamina. We don't know tribal politics and it will never exist in Niamina." Juwara says both Bah and Darboe are liabilities to their respective parties, as they have "proven to be failed politicians over the years."

When asked if he was going to resign since collectively they were all responsible for the opposition woes Juwara retorted"If you fail to deliver and your leadership is characterized by one stupid blunder to another, the only option for you is to resign from politics. I decided to disassociate myself in every steep that showing pursuing personal ambition to the detriment of the people. Because politics is a question of credibility. When they pulled out of NADD I knew that we have failed but I decided to honour my part of the bargain and accept responsibility."

Further quizzed as to whether he Juwara was going to resign from active politics Juwara said his decision on that would be communicated to the Gambian public soon." I have not decided that yet. And very soon, I'm going to take a decision as to my political future."

When asked whether this was the end of NADD since its flag-bearer Halifa Sallah was defeated by the APRC candidate Sainey Jaiteh Juwara remarked"That decision would be taken very soon by the remaining parties that constitute NADD. I strongly believe that those who decided to stay with NADD they are doing it for the general good. There is nobody among us including the flag bearer who puts personal national interest before national interest. I must be very candid that my association with Halifa Sallah, I have come to the conclusion that the man is not self-centred, very modest and have a lot of love for the Gambia. It's very unfortunate that he lost the parliamentary seat because of all Gambians acknowledged his excellent performance at the national assembly. It's a great lost to the Gambian people. Halifa was very productive while at the National Assembly."

Editors note:The management of this paper would solicit reaction from other political leaders to sound their opinions on the recently concluded Parliamentary elections. We have detailed reporters and editors to talk to Darboe, Bah, Sallah and even the APRC. Stay tuned. There are more good stuffs to come. " We remain your servant.

The editor can be reached at the following addresses:editor@freedomnewspaper.com or panderrymbai@gmail.com If you know that it's happening or is about to happen please contact us. It's easy. Just type your info on our contact us file and then click send. The Freedom Newspaper is your leading and most authoritative source of news. We have the required professionals to serve you round the clock. Get your morning breakfast news by reading Freedom. We have good stuffs every morning. At Freedom, we mean business.

Posted on Saturday, January 27, 2007 (Archive on Tuesday, February 27, 2007)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI

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