High Profile Politicians
Low Key Tunes
By Sarjo Bayang, UK
Gambian electorates are receiving rather poor signals from key political players. These men have been seen as rays of hope to salvage the country from the electric grips of Yaya Jammeh who holds the country at ransom under iron claws since 22 July 1994 in a military takeover. Politicians are becoming more unmanageable in their responsiveness to what the electorate prefer.Let us examine what prospects there may be for getting the political progress on track.
There may be for getting the political progress on track.This online and other Gambian media fronts have kept the message flowing. Our politicians have failed to take heed for whatever reasons. Wanting our votes and not responsive to our concerns is scary. This is sending ugly signals that when some of you come to power, you will do things your way and not the way preferred by majority of Gambians.
Jammeh often threatens that he would not permit the Gambia to fall in the hands of those of you he calls various names. While one may not be in favor of Yaya's misrule, he is right to keep the grips if a bunch of people can be this tough and refuse to cope with what the electorates want.
Gambians at this moment are not asking you to build roads or promise them heaven. We are simply saying come together even if that means some of you have to swallow your personal prides. You refuse to cope with popular demands and that is now earning the type of image everyone sees of you. It is unfortunate that you have become unmanageable to the extent of tearing apart the political fabric that everyone thought was to salvage them from a decade of misrule.
We are getting very concerned about your reluctance to stay together for a common reason. If you think you have all the answers, you are deceitful. The political environment you insist playing in is not just unsuitable. It is also very dangerous. You have been warned long enough but it seems you all in your individual perception you believe you are fine. This is our collective task. Don't take it to be yours and yours alone. Listen to people.
Ask yourselves why you eventually broke apart. Your division certainly may not mean popularity for the ruling party. It may yet mean your opportunities are diminishing. Coming together to restore democracy in Gambia is the most pressing concern of all Gambians and and our friends. It is when the political environment becomes properly democratic that you have it fit to compete among yourselves.
After all, we expect you are all decent enough to provide genuine material for long lasting political leaders. If you will not salvage Gambia at this trying moment, your future political career is at stake. A crying nation now awaits your resolve to muster courage in coming together to beat the tides.
Remember there is little time. You raised our hopes and people trusted it was a genuine pool of forces. You cannot let us down at this crucial stage of things. Your individual party supporters need knowing too that if you fail, the impact falls on us all. There is only one way out of this tunnel.
Your coming together even if you have to abandon your names. It is not your individual aspirations or the affiliation of your supporters. It is a matter of restoring democracy. There is no security in the current political environment due the fact that it is held on military grounds and yours is a genuine democracy. No change of uniforms and colors will turn a military regime democratic. This current alleged coup is good example to learn from. Yaya is capable of calling the elections off and arresting all of you in the last hour. Who will vote for your release then?
If it is true that all of you care about Gambia and the best welfare of Gambians you have higher prospects in staying together to shape future Gambia and to keep your names in the good books of Gambia's political history.
There are people who feel fit to take on the task you have assigned yourselves. It does not just make sense to create further divisions. Whether you know it or not, your current division makes all of you appear like high profile politicians playing low key tunes. Swallow your personal prides and come together. That is the message coming from towns and villages in Gambia.
It is that same message that this and other media outlets are relaying to the audience. Are you for yourselves or for the people ? If you are for the people, better do what people want. What people want is that you all come together and salvage our dear country, Gambia. The beauty about plans is that when they don't work, you tear the paper on which the plan is drawn and get back on the drawing board. There is no such thing as a perfect plan that is not subject to change upon further review. Nothing wrong in starting it all over again if that means salvaging Gambia.