Dear Editor,
Those entities convening coalition talks and the parties participating in the talks have reached a fork on the road. There are two irreconcilable paths towards coalition building and they are party-led and candidate-led. There is no practical or sensible way to fuse the two separate and distinct pathways to coalition building.
Therefore, it is time for all stakeholders to face, unveil and embrace the two outcomes. Stringing along talks in which two separate positions have been staked by participants that the facilitators cannot reconcile serves no useful purpose. We have only four months left before the elections and the rainy season with the constraints that imposes on the ability of political parties to engage in the kind of retail politics campaigns need will erase two months from the calendar. That leaves just about two months for the opposition to mount a nationwide campaign against a corrupt and entrenched incumbent who is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid defeat.
That is too little time already and therefore coalition talks should be concluded immediately to allow the dual pathways to each pursue the strategy they are committed to. The facilitators can coordinate the birthing of both coalition arrangements, broker a gentleman’s agreement and urge voters to deny Barrow their votes and give the opposition coalition they prefer their choice. Two strong opposition coalitions can easily beat a very weak and unpopular incumbent.
There is no rhyme or reason to spend additional days and weeks attempting to cobble together a grand alliance among parties that have publicly and repeatedly stated their positions that leaves no doubt that they are irreconcilable. The disagreement is not about the mechanics of how to operationalise a coalition. The difference is in the fundamental nature of a proposed coalition and that cannot be bridged. And that is not due to lack of trying by the facilitators or the participants. It just cannot be done and part of smart diplomacy is for stakeholders to acknowledge an impasse, craft an exit ramp that all sides can live with and let the larger public decide the final outcome. After all the reason for the entire effort is to serve the larger public. Time is of the essence here and every day we lose trying to do the impossible, we are wasting time that can help us bring change.
Karamba Touray
Nianija
To save Gambia, Essa Faal is the solution
Dear Editor,
My Gambian brothers and sisters, we have come to a defining period in the life of our dear nation. We have to know that The Gambia is bigger than all of us and that our country’s geopolitical future lies within our hands.
We must realise that The Gambia will never change or be reformed unless we hold our politicians accountable for their failures and the false manifestos they sell to us during election campaigns.
We have an opportunity to transform the trajectory of our nation now by building a coalition against the incumbent. In this exercise, all big or small parties are vital stakeholders and all voices must be heard and considered.
The UDP claims to be the big party but structurally it has been fragmented into three and that significantly erodes its claims to being the biggest party in the country.
The UDP has lost its majority in the National Assembly. And lest we forget, it was the UDP leader ANM Ousainu Darboe who fragmented the 2005 NADD coalition to remove the dictator Yahya Jammeh.
And it was the same Darboe who after his release from prison, fragmented the Coalition 2016 by openly speaking against the three-year transitional agreement and failing to defend and uphold the memorandum of understanding that the parties agreed upon.
The 2016 coalition transitional government was formed to reform our country’s bad governance system and change the 1997 Constitution and implement security sector and public institutions reforms.
My question to the citizens is: Does the leader of the UDP, ANM Ousainu Darboe, have the best interest of our country at heart or that of his party and politics?
It is time we the citizens of The Gambia vet our political leaders and choose those who can govern the country with integrity and have the best interest of our country at heart. I don’t think Ousainu Darboe is that person!
I believe the only party that has the solutions for The Gambia’s problems is Essa Faal and the APP-Sobeyaa party.
It is time we, the citizens of The Gambia, come together and elect Mr Faal president of The Gambia for our sake and the sake of future generations.
We must mobilise and get rid of our rogue President Adama Barrow and his corrupt and selfish politicians before they destroy our country beyond repair.
Omar Loum
Keighley
UK
