As a result of the unjust electoral laws (such as the simple majority clause) put in place by Jammeh to shift the victory chances in his favour, it is a foregone conclusion that the best way to beat him in his own game is for the opposition to agree on only one candidate to contest the elections. In this regard therefore, a meeting is convened by the presidential aspirants to find a way for only one person to take on Jammeh in the Dec polls.
Out of the ten original opposition presidential aspirants, only six are actually in position to contest in the elections because the same flawed electoral laws have made it impossible for the other four to contest for the presidency. For me however, this is a good omen for the coalition project simply because it is easier for six people to negotiate than ten. Therefore, I say Jarama (thanks) to Jammeh for those disqualifications!!!
Now why is it that there is still no sign of success in the coalition talks among the six opposition presidential aspirants? The bitter truth is that only half of those around the negotiation table are really sincere, committed and serious about political change. They are the GDC, PDOIS and UDP.
These serious parties and their leaders are consistently on the ground engaging with the masses and working hard to win the hearts and minds of the electorates. They have spent and continue to spend huge amounts of money as well as sacrificed a lot of energy, sweat, tears and even blood to form their parties, maintain those parties and organize successful campaigns across the length and breadth of the country.
On the other hand, the other three parties/candidates are resting on their laurels in their various backyards without making any serious efforts or demonstrating any credible signs that they are capable of winning the hearts and minds of the populace. In fact, some Gambians do not even know some of these presidential aspirants because they have never gone out on any campaign or even appeared on television or social media to engage with the people.
In my opinion, these three are the real obstacles/spoilers to the current ongoing efforts to form a coalition. They don’t have any formidable constituencies/support bases that could add any value to a coalition or to the overall efforts to get rid of Jammeh. Therefore, they really do not have the interest of the country at heart but in the contrary, they only care about government positions.
Therefore, unless the three spoilers muster the moral courage to excuse themselves from the political field, it will be too difficult if not impossible for the serious politicians to successfully negotiate a coalition. The distractors must therefore unconditionally withdraw their presidential candidatures in order to create more freedom, space and latitude for the others to do the right thing.
I have absolutely no doubt that the GDC, PDOIS and UDP parties and their leaders have all the political experience, maturity, patriotism, commitment and ability to reach a consensus on a single candidate to contest against Jammeh. In fact, there is no group that has more at stake in this election than these serious parties and their leaders as they have sacrificed everything they have to politics. There is just no way will they fail to agree considering the disastrous consequences for the country if Jammeh is to get another mandate.
In conclusion, I hereby appeal to the three political novice/lightweights to have mercy for the people of The Gambia by suspending their political ambitions for the greater good of the country. You cannot negotiate for political positions without first having any tangible political experience/ support bases. Please leave the political field for the serious politicians at least for 2016. Gambia is in a state of political emergency as it is on a downward spiral to destruction.
Long live the Republic of The Gambia, long live our peaceful and harmonious co-existence!!!!
Author Gano
Posted on October 2, 2016
