Agenda 2011: Opposition Parties Must Unite

By Jeggan Grey-Johnson

If doing the same thing over and expecting a different result tantamount to insanity, then election year 2011 will be a turning point for The Gambia and its opposition parties.  If they proceed to repeat fundamental mistakes of the previous three election cycles, over a period of 15 years, by splintering, then they would prove to all and sundry that they are all insane.  And insanity, according to the 1997 Constitution, disqualifies persons from standing for office.  If they however, decide to do the right thing and unite, as many have called for, then they will be worthy of the privilege to occupy space in public office.  But 2011 goes beyond mere occupancy of public office.  The next 21 months will be the most crucial period of Gambia’s political history.  It will be a time that will call into question the integrity of political opposition, whereby its utterances of democracy, tolerance, public spiritedness, and even internal governance architecture will be scrutinized. The fact that almost all opposition parties have not had a congress in more than two election cycles, signals that there are worries of hypocrisy afoot, whereby the opposition party leaders have ceased to perceive their deception by feigning ignorance at their deceit. 

Omar Jallow, PPP

In truth, there was no congress to elect the leadership of the PPP post Jawara era, but Mr. O J Jallow assumed the mantle of leadership.  PDIOS’ Mr. Jatta and Mr. Sallah seem to be alternating the leadership chair between themselves. UDP has not had a contestation of their leadership since Mr. Ousainou Darboe assumed that role in the Second Republic, and has thus far, shown no signs of letting go.  NRP, under Mr. Hamat Bah is murky at best- and its leadership structures are shrouded in secrecy- it seems. All these parties have several things in common: none have demonstrated a democratic culture, albeit that, that is their mantra; they have not practiced it, but preach it well. None have been able to get into office, they think and say they can, but they have not done so. The signs point to an increasing probability that they will never get in unless they shed their lust for individual power and stop embracing the destructive and arrogant attitude of ‘self coronation’.  If they continue, then all of them will be left to wonder in the political wilderness, eternally. The Constitution will see to that.  The maximum age for the presidency is sixty-five. The opposition party leaders know their age.  None are getting younger.  This is not a call for panic, the time for that has passed long ago.

Ousainou Darboe, Hamat Bah, Halifa Sallah

The urgency for the opposition parties in Gambia to be responsible to all Gambians has therefore arrived.  Proposals have been bandied about, on the processes and procedures of a formulation of a party of national unity.   Debates have been had, tempers have flared, and passions stirred and yet, there have not been any signs that the clarion call by many Gambians for a united opposition will be answered.  This is the first hurdle that must be stepped over.  The fact that UDP and NRP are paying lip service to unity, and doing the complete opposite, signals the power lust for leadership even before they’ve reached State House.  What will they do, as individuals, when they get there?  The time to build a much needed public trust is now.  Some of the leaders in political opposition like Sallah and Jallow have shown that The Gambia is greater than their own parties, and even themselves.  Albeit that some would argue that PDIOS, and PPP are marginal parties, and do not have a choice but to abstain from leadership posturing.  However, this does not hold water.  The political process in The Gambia has deteriorated over the last fifteen years.  The statistics tell us that. The electorate in 2006 sent a strong message signaling disgust at the bickering.  Voter turnout was the lowest in the history of the Second Republic: only 58 percent of voters bothered to cast their ballot, as compared to 2001 (89%) and 1996 (88%); all this at the behest of an over bearing and intransigent attitude of leaders who seem desperate to get to the State House as individuals instead of representatives of a people.  And the people have seen and responded to this, by rejecting both UDP and NRP, who withdrew from the NADD alliance after it signed to join it at the Wadner Beach Hotel meeting. As a result, both UDP and NRP suffered the greatest loss in 2006, their numbers dipped by 15 percent, whilst PPP and PDOIS (strangest of bedfellows) increased their tally by 100 percent, (from 3% to 6%).  

The Gambia deserves to have a vibrant political landscape where people are given the best possible options in the leadership contest so that the probabilities of better talent in government can be harnessed. But if the quality of choice is few, so will those making the pick, as demonstrated in the last election.  Gambians know what they want, even though they are often discrete about it, for various reasons. Given the right choices, at the right time, they will make the right decision. 2011 is therefore the time; perhaps the last time for a long time, to ensure that the vibrancy needed to jolt the body politic back to life again is seized upon.  The Diaspora should play a role in this because they have as much at stake as those residing in Gambia. The fact that 60 percent of households depend on remittances points to the irrefutable fact that Gambians abroad should be given their rightful stab at the political pie, because they are the ones that are infusing the majority of capital and monetary instruments into The Gambia.  This is political currency that must be leveraged.  This constituency has made the call for a united front.  They did so in 2006, and they were ignored.  They did not retaliate, like their fellow countrymen and women residing in The Gambia, because they could not vote.  Neither did they vent their anger by withdrawing their contributions to households that they feed, clothe and send to school.  They forgave and took the disappointment with grace.  However, a forgiving spirit wears thin.  If agenda 2011 is not embraced by opposition leaders, there is a strong possibility that the wave of anger will drown out even the innocent by-standers, the ones that queue the Western Union lines monthly to receive their livelihood from loved ones abroad.  The call is therefore loud, and the message is clear: the opposition must unite, and the leadership issue will not be fought over, or even negotiated away by the few that have refused to live up to their pronouncements of democracy, term limits, transparency and good governance. Instead, a process must be identified, whereby a primary is held with all parties agreeing to the modalities, and a criteria set, stipulating that: ANY Gambian, having reached the age of 35 (as stated in the 1997 Constitution), in good character, can contest the primary.  This should not be about having to chose from a shallow pool of existing political ‘big-wigs’, but about a deep reservoir of talented Gambians capable of winning, and delivering for all Gambians at all times.  The task will be daunting but it will not be impossible.  In fact, the litmus test for the leadership abilities of the Gambian opposition leaders is willingness to undergo this challenge. Can OJ Jallow, Halifa Sallah, Ousainou Darboe, Hamat Bah heed to the voices of reason, who shout for a united front, who clamor for greater political space, who yearn for a democratic process in choosing a capable leader to carry the flag in 2011?  The vote will only count if the candidate can stand up and be counted, and a candidate can only stand if the voter can count on him.  Can we count on the opposition to unite, embrace the political will and commitment to see this arduous task through and emerge with a single candidate, elected through a transparent manner and endorsed by all?  If the opposition cannot unite and organize a primary, for whatever reason, why should the voters put any faith in them winning, let alone running the country?