October 25th 2016.
An Open Letter to GOFER; Matter of Gambia’s Opposition Unity
Dear Sir/Madam –
Desperate times require proper measures, and our politics must be well dissected, to avoid the missteps in 2006 and 2011, which should have served as lessons to piggy back on for 2016. I write to you from the far to petition your re-visit to the current process of GOFER selection in place. There are certain things ongoing not in your favor, and not in favor of the liberation struggle. Even in our African traditions and belief systems, there are times when you are just right in your fights, and then a friend will look at you straight in your eyes, put his hand on your shoulder, and ask you to resolve it out. That is just so sweet. It is not that easy, especially knowing the far that the process came. That is in fact what love for country would mean; endless sacrifices and even accepting things you won’t accept under normal circumstances. It won’t violate a principle and nothing to lose at all.
I followed the miscarriage on October 14th 2016 where GDC withheld signing the MOU, on the basis that their motion to have “open primaries” was not accommodated by GOFER. To many observers, this came as a surprise, especially the fact that the impression given to concerned citizens following deliberations all along, was that all were on board. I feel duty bound as a concerned citizen to say that I listened to both sides; and in the process of listening to both sides, found some lost opportunities that can be revisited to make a single coalition materialize. To GOFER’s point, especially considering the cost of primaries, and the fact that all attendees agreed to fractional primaries (10 people per party per region) except the GDC, it really makes sense in that way to go with the fractional primaries. I really didn’t like the fact that GDC withdrew, for the sake of our ultimate goal of seeing a single united front.
October 30th 2016 is at the corner, and that is when GOFER will engage in fractional primaries (10 people per party per region). Without doubt, the number is too small a statistical data to gauge electability in an election as critical as ours, nonetheless still an acceptable yardstick of measurement if all agrees to it, especially the fact the party leaders and their delegates are representatives of their large parties.
The other concern mentioned was the swing votes from three (3) parties that are not fielding contestants; that is GMC, PPP, and GPDP. These parties must be commended for taking the bench and agreeing to wholly support the process in place. Leadership as the great Madiba put it was not only being in the front seat. A good mentor and bencher is equally a celebrity leader. These swing votes if poorly constructed can end up just creating the undesired result, and that will be disastrous, as any further division at GOFER is simply game over.
The GDC also referenced certain hostilities that were geared towards them at the GOFER level. I do not know the accuracy of that narration, though I hold that we should not be wholly dismissive of their registered concerns. The other part that GDC registered is the hostility they encountered from some of the other party surrogates especially in the Diaspora, most of it resembling “targeted hate, “and to that, most of us saw their crucifixion on first coming as a political party, second being labeled on tribal grounds, and third being tagged with the APRC. Without doubt, it is the political season, and tempers are to flare, though our problem remains the dictatorship.
From following developments overtime and as believers of democracy, coming as a political party cannot be a crime even to whereas some of our comrades in the UDP are illegally in jail, and the two in my view don’t have any bearing. I wonder if any of the political parties at GOFER motioned for an election boycott. If it wasn’t, then further shows that it was a miscalculated attack on the GDC. The tribal connotation is a shame, especially in today’s Gambia. If there is anyone that believes that a tribal Gambia will take them even beyond the hill much more the mountain, I will say go ahead, as you will woefully fail. The calculus in tribe is a failed formula and I am personally encouraging all citizens to look at people from the contents of their character. You can’t hide through other desperate methods either to spew tribal hate, and it must be condemned and nib to the bud. It doesn’t do you any good, other than losing others’ support who might be sensitive and even sympathetic to the fact that some wrong was done to someone, even to whereas that person isn’t wholly righteous.
On their former association with the APRC, I am personally disturbed by that, and I didn’t mince my protest over it, but being fair enough, we are working with many others including our mother Fatou Jallow Tambajang (forgive my reference of your name, Yaa Fatou) who was a former minister in the Jammeh regime. There are countless others we can name, but I will just limit myself to her, knowing the political maturity she demonstrated in answering that question when I posted it to her in a live interview I had with her before. I think while being frustrated with the whole thing of enabling, we cannot be selective in our methods of treating citizens. Selective activism and treatment of citizens is a dangerous trait. I have argued before that enabling constitutes a crime itself, especially with a dictatorship as ugly as the one we have, and the very fact of complicity. Ours is a hard struggle, especially how reconciliation will be constructed post Jammeh. How will Gambians for example treat all those branded as “enablers,” and I will not contradict myself for the sake of this write-up, especially when I myself criticized it harder over the years.
There was also some information coming from some of the meetings which really put certain leaders in funny situations, the impression given was that some of them intentionally stayed away, and I think it pose a conflict, as well as put some of them under the radar of attacks, especially when some of them were being targeted for political hostility. It is true that people are really curious, but the selection of a Holy Father (Pope) is secluded for obvious reasons; humans are fallible, bias and jealousy, and that is just our nature, though we differ in the manner that we control the bias and jealousy.
My reaching out is based on this; you are contesting against a 22-year old incumbent, armed with the state machinery, the military, the home-based media, his dictatorship/criminality, and fetishes. This is also a simple majority contest, where a win by a single vote, is a win for the presidency. You are also going into this divided, which causes voter apathy. It is not possible for a divided opposition to defeat the entrenched incumbent. That calculus is not right!
I am hereby petitioning GOFER to reconvene with GDC and reach a compromise point. It can include negotiating with the swing leaders and their supporters not to participate, in that way, the fractional primaries will be limited to only those that are fielding contestants, and that would upset any feared irregularity of fractional primaries. Knowing Mai, OJ, and having followed Gomez over the years, I don’t see this being much to forgo at their ends, especially if this method will help bring everyone on board. It is also advisable for party leaders to have control on their Diaspora supporters, to send a unifying message, and ask their surrogates to stay away from divisive politics, which is wrecking further the fabric of our existence. An incoming Government must be better than the one it seeks to replace. I refused to accept that the two forces continuing to engage is fruitless. There is some common ground among citizens that shared a common enemy in Jammeh.
For the records and for posterity, I also addressed the GDC, GOFER, and citizens on what I thought was necessary to do, to get back to the coalition table, ref Gainako 10/16/2016 publication: https://gainako.com/open-letter-gdc-matter-gambias-opposition-unity/ and ongoing series, “The Spotlight: The Scramble for the Gambia 2016.” I am not claiming neutrality, and my side is obviously the unified coalition. Failure on unity, will reduce our efforts as just waste of resources, valuable time, and further legitimizing Jammeh for another five years, and that means another five years of oppression on decent citizens. I hope that I am not too tiny a citizen that my concerns cannot be listened to, and I hope GOFER will not be too big an entity for me to address. If at all a unified coalition materializes, be rest assured of my utmost support in our effort to redeem the Gambia. Whereas things didn’t materialize, my respect still holds, and I see our nation plunging quickly in the hands of another unknown coup leader, which is not at all desirable, but as sign of protest over failure of democratic efforts, and for the simple fact the mechanism for free and fair elections are not in place in today’s Gambia. A recipe for civility and level playing field must be part of the ingredients, without which democracy cannot flourish. And to where the latter is our destiny, I am personally afraid, we are sitting on a ticking time-bomb, and that continually ticks my heart. I humbly call on all citizens despite your disagreements to come to terms with Gambia’s current situation. It is all of us, our nation, our people, and our everything. If we wallow in our own bubbles, our own prides, refuse to see what is good in others, and fail in our individual and collective representation, we will be failing generations yet unborn.
Sincerely Yours,
Yero Jallow.
1 Comment
In worst case szenario of GDC not joining the coalition, to my point of view can be a disadvantage and advantage at the same time for the coalition. At the end GDC can only weaken the APRC party than that of the coalition. They may be at the end the losers who played a good role in defeating Jammeh.