By Sana Sarr
So…, the stage is set for a debate between presidential candidates Dr. Ismaila Ceesay of Citizens Alliance and Halifa Sallah of the PDOIS. To many, this is a most welcome development because it will be the first political debate between Presidential Candidates in modern Gambian history. It’s rather refreshing for voters to see aspiring presidents face each other and discuss matters of national interest in a civil, mature and productive manner. Personally, I love it! And I hope it’s the first of many such engagements.
As with everything else, there are critics, which is understandable, but I must admit that I found some of the comments rather sad and unfortunate especially given that they’re from entities I thought would know better. Here’s some of the gems I’ve seen online over the past couple of days.
“Halifa Sallah and Dr. Ceesay are doing this only to show off their education or elitism. It’s all talk for them.”
This argument is mostly from those who support leaders they do not trust to be able to hold their own on such a platform. Due to huge egos, a lack of ideas, a lack of the personality/charisma or other qualities required for a debate, some of the party leaders dread stepping on stage to discuss issues. They’d rather attend political rallies, preach to the choir and rely on identity politics and politics of benachin ak sabarr. How on earth is displaying your intelligence not a great thing for someone who wants to be trusted with the presidency??? If you want to win votes, we should be demanding that you win the voters over with your intelligence, strength, empathy, education and any other good qualities that can help make you a good president.
“Dr. Ceesay has bitten off more than he can chew. Halifa Sallah will embarrass him.”
This one is from those who have long held the belief that Halifa Sallah and the PDOIS are the only “educated” politicians. This is to Halifa’s credit because he consistently displayed a deep understanding of issues and is ever ready to explain them on any platform. As a result, his supporters admire him and his opponents are terrified to face him. Unfortunately, this challenge to a debate is hard to stomach by those from both camps. Fortunately for Gambia, this will be an awakening that nobody, not Halifa and certainly not Dr. Ceesay, has a monopoly on ideas, intelligence, education or eloquence. With adequate research and preparation, anyone can hold their own to defend their ideas. At the end of the day for this debate, we would have heard from both leaders, hopefully with convincing and productive ideas. They will go down in history as the pioneers of Presidential debates. The debate has grabbed the attention of the nation and millions will be watching around the world. Both leaders will have the opportunity to reassure many of their followers to keep supporting them. Both will also have the opportunity to win over one or two opponents or neutral voters to their side. They are all winners. The masses, especially the young, would also have been shown that we can engage each other in civil political discussions despite our differences. Therefore, Gambia WINS…and that’s way more important than any perceived wins/losses by the candidates.
“My party leader will not debate either of these candidates because they are at a higher level.”
This is another from those who don’t foresee their candidate doing well on a debate stage. I’m not sure whether it even makes sense in the thoughts of those who say it, ndah danj just degerr fitt! Dude, all these politicians are literally at the exact same level! They filled out the exact same forms at the IEC, collected the exact same number of signatures, paid the same amount and they are out canvassing for votes just like everyone else. If they are to be trusted enough to earn votes, we better pray they recognize that the office they’re vying for is to SERVE the people. We better pray that they have the basic understanding that appearing on a debate stage is not being done to please one’s opponents but to earn the trust of the Gambian voters who hold the ultimate power to elect them.
“One must be arrogant / ungrateful if they are challenging a member of Coalition 2016 and asking them to own up to the collective failures. The coalition got rid of the dictator and that should outweigh any failures.”
If I didn’t know better, i would call this one hypocritical, because I’m seeing it from the same individuals who never miss an opportunity to criticize President Barrow, the flag bearer of the Coalition 2016. The contradiction is unmissable, but is it hard to understand? Absolutely NOT! One does not need to look far to see that Coalition 2016 has succeeded in getting rid of the dictator, but it has fallen well short of the promises it made to Gambians. We can give due credit for getting rid of the dictator while still pointing out the failure to fulfill their promises. Tantang kosso ning juu gnanyaa buka taa, but we can walk and chew gum at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive. We recognize where the argument is coming from. It’s from those who support leaders who were a part of Coalition 2016 who are willing to call out Barrow and Darboe’s failures, but want to whitewash their candidate of choice’s role in the collective failure. They’d rather brush it under the carpet except when it’s weaponized to crucify Barrow and Darboe. (No, I did not forget Hamat and Henry, they’re simply not worth my time).
The other problem I have with this argument is just how shortsighted it sounds. It’s the same chest-thumping our clueless Barrow goes on when he claims that he single-handedly got rid of the dictator. Remember the soldiers who took the risk to burn those ballots that the dictator meant to use to steal the elections? Remember the thousands of Gambian women and men who obtained voters cards to vote for the coalition? Remember Solo Sendeng who gave his life to demand electoral reforms? Yea, the same reforms these same coalition leaders and the parliament have failed to work on? Remember the thousands of diaspora Gambians who sent their meager earnings to fund Coalition 2016? Remember Alieu Momar Njie who put his life on the line to announce that the dictator had lost? Remember Reverend Hannah Faal who walked into State House and spoke truth to the brute? Remember…? How dare you act as if Coalition 2016 were just a bunch of superheroes who, all by themselves, flew in to save poor wretched Gambians who were on their last breath? Yes, we give credit to the leadership for having done a great job leading, but it is unconscionable to pretend as if Gambians from all walks of life did not contribute immensely to the change of government. Therefore, pointing out the failures of the same leadership in order to demand better for Gambians is not only prudent, it should be a national duty for all and should be commended. Gambians deserve better and we must demand better!
“The debate is futile because the topic is whether Coalition 2016 was a failure. It’s useless to discuss the past. Instead, the candidates should discuss the future.”
This one has to be the most disappointing not least because of the people I’ve seen it from. Coalition 2016 is arguably the most significant event in the history of the nation. People and nations around the world celebrated and admired The Gambia for what we were able to achieve – getting rid of a brutal dictator through the ballot box. There was overwhelming goodwill from all quarters and any door we knocked on would open. Rather than ride the wave and set ourselves on the path to everlasting prosperity, we squandered the opportunity in epic fashion. Selfishness, greed, lack of foresight, ego, arrogance and ignorance blinded the people we trusted and one can argue that we were led backward rather than forward. How on earth does one think, even for one second, that delving deep into learning why and how the failures came about, is futile. How do you not see that it’s essential, nay, critical, for us to study it and study it again if we are to avoid spinning our wheels in the suufi salenj of political mediocrity? After all, it’s mostly THE SAME LEADERS we trusted in 2016 who are now coming back to ask us to trust them again. It would be irresponsible to give anyone our vote without asking and fully understanding exactly what happened and why we should trust them again. Nkijo leyka farra everytime i see some people talk about how futile it is to break down such an important subject.
Despite all the noise, the misinformation, the distortions and the distractions, I will reiterate my commendation to the Mr. Halifa Sallah and Dr. Ismaila Ceesay for leading the way in the politics of ideas. Halifa and the PDOIS have been at it for decades and it’s great that Dr. Ceesay and CA have stepped up to the podium. I pray that the rest of the field develop the courage to engage in more dialogue.
“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument” – Desmond Tutu
