WHAT/WHO IS NEUTRAL IN GAMBIAN POLITICS?

As we impatiently and frantically (and rightly so) crave and cry out loud for an opposition merger, going into the presidential elections in December, a lot of theories been thrown out there mainly cos of the history of the parties and their leaders been unable to come up with one candidate to run against the incumbent. As a result some folks argue a party-led, some primaries and most in the Diaspora suggesting a Neutral/Independent candidate.

BUT WHO IS NEUTRAL in our politics today? Across the length and breadth of the Gambia, ANYBODY who has been NEUTRAL for 20 years in the face of injustice cannot be entrusted in leading. The person must either be cuddling Jammeh on the low or disinterested in change (don't want to use selfish) while they collect paycheck. Otherwise, name me ONE! Just one. We might say someone who is NOT openly associated with any of the parties but NO Gambian sick and tired of the political banditry of the APRC could have been independent. Cos they could have been voting. And if they do, the party/leader they voted for enjoys their sympathy. In that case, they aren't neutral. And if they've been in the country but hadn't been voting in all election cycles, he helps perpetrate the awful regime in Banjul.

Things are messy, and they're expected to be. That's politics. It's hard to have a functional party/parties give up a lot to yield to others. Our political circumstance is almost unique, in that most places where coalitions succeed, their electoral laws accommodated second round ballot. In such scenarios, the party that pulled the most votes (comes second to the incumbent), solicits support and alliance from the other parties. Gambia does not have that. That means they have to kickbox, yell and scream to find a winning formula. Everyone knows that is a gigantic task.

However, tough and rocky as things are, the optimist in me believe that the party leaders will get it this time because each election cycle is more crucial than the last. And because of that, I trust them to meet at a table to figure out a compromise to present one candidate at the polls. I still retain that faith in them until proven otherwise. But to pressure them to just pick 'anybody' who's neutral, I'm not in for that. To me, no concerned Gambian is neutral in the face of injustice.