Gambia leader signals firm rule after election?|?World News?|?Reuters.co.uk
Assalamu alaikum / greetings, what was it Sallah said, "working with the Jammeh government"? "the opposition needs to chart the way forward". OK not his words, but this is what I got from the Voice of America article!
I think that talking about voter apathy and the NADD split gives Sallah someone to blame, and leaves him a reason *not* to reject the results! But, whether you’re talking about Ousainou Darboe or Halifa Sallah, if the opposition lets Jammeh take this election, you can forget about a multiparty democracy in The Gambia. Jammeh has seemingly made that clear! It is past the blame game or talking about why NADD initially split! We are way beyond that now!
Link: Gambia leader signals firm rule after election?|?World News?|?Reuters.co.uk.
VOA News - Gambian Opposition Leader Reflects on Election
Assalamu alaikum / greetings, "voter apathy"? What voter apathy? What evidence is there of this? Waht if people were not *allowed* to vote? Anyway…
Link: VOA News - Gambian Opposition Leader Reflects on Election.
Gambia, Oh Gambia!
Assalamu alaikum, as some of you may (or may not) know, The Gambia had its Presidentail election on Friday, September 22nd. As I’ve been gone and not had access to a computer since Thursday night, I’ve not had a chance to blog about this.
I don’t know where to start, I’m fighting a migraine, so I’ll just try to keep it short and sweet!
Firstly, it seems that Jammeh is determined to steal these elections! Secondly, if the opposition doesn’t want to completely be neutralized by this guy, they, and by extension, thier supporters, need to do everything they can *not* to let Yahya Jammeh run away with another election!
This is a guy who has stated that he doesn’t care what either his people, nor the international community want, think, or feel! And he has threatened violence against anyone who stands up to him!
It has come to the point that the Gambian people, as a whole, need to decide what they want! Do they want to continue to live under a tyrannical, wicked ruler, who clearly cares nothing for htem, and only wants power for himself? Or do they want good governance, transparency, the rule of law, etc.?
This is no longer for those of us outside of The Gambia to decide! The Gambian people, "on the ground", as they say, need to make a clear, uniquivocal statement as to what they want.
I know it’s easy to tell other to stand up and possibly die for a cause. However, you can bet that if George Bush started acting like Yahya Jammeh and blatantly tried to steal an election, I’d be the first one out in the streets voicing my discontent! And if I had to die so that my children and grandchildren could live in a peaceful, decent, non-tyrannical country, then I’d do it in a second!
However, at this point, it doesn’t really matter waht I, Ginny, want, or would do! It is up to the Gambia people to stand up and fight for their rights!
How sad, though, that this has come during the Holy Month of Ramadan. However, maybe this means something, but then again, maybe it doesn’t!
Whatever the case and wahtever happens, my thoguths and prayers are with the people of The Gambia! Whatever happens, Allah will deal with Yahya Jammeh at some point!
Indigo Jo Blogs: Pope criticises, Anjem embarrasses
Assalamu alaikum, Indigo Jo seems to have tackled this issue better than I could have. And I was going to tackle it, but, well, I’m kind of bogged down with my interest and well, trying to follow the goings-onin The Gambia, regarding the upcoming Presidential election, not to mention all of my other interests, not to mention getting ready for Ramadan, as well as other things like work, home, etc.
But anyway, I’d received a call from my friend, well, one of my friends from Indiana, who happens to be Catholic. And just after I said hi, how are you, she said something to the affect of, "if you’re going to have dialogue with Muslims, don’t quote from a Christian emperor who says that Islam, or the Prophet Muhammad, is evil."
She then said that it wasn’t right, either, for Muslims to react violently and she mentioned the story of the Catholic nun in Somalia who was killed. My first reaction was to condemn this, although I hadn’t yet known of the story of the nun, and the second was to start with a "but you gotta understand why" speech. Which obviously didn’t go down well with her, because she said "there is no excuse for it", etc. And she was right.
I mean, while questioning, self-examination, etc., is a good thing, on thinking about the conversation, I don’t think that saying that, at the time that I did, was a good thing. Although I did also state that even Muslims need to ask questions. So I don’t know. But when you have Muslims, or should I say so-called Muslims or those professing Islam, killing nuns and damaging churches, etc., I think to some, it sorta proves the Pope right, in their eyes. And that is just too sad.
However, I’m no longer going to defend Islam from the actions of misguided, probably ignorant, people. I know what Islam says about this sort of thing, and so I’m just done with it! My reaction to the whole controversy was something along the lines of, "This isn’t the first time that someone has said bad things about Islam and our prophet (peace be upon him), and this isn’t the last", and I just resolved not to get terribly upset about it. We can condemn, yes, we can speak out against this sort of thing, yes, but violence, no. That just makes us look bad.
