THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IS CHANGING SHOULD THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY TAKE A PARTISAN CHARACTER?

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The PPP has lost state power and could only mobilise less than 400 people to attend its celebration. When PPP held state power it could also pull thousands to the stadium. If APRC existed as an opposition Party it may have been able to pull only a crowd of 400. It is therefore important for all Gambians to take a fresh look at the 50th  Anniversary as a historical event which requires study and analysis in order to draw lessons for the future. Scholars should take the debate from the political platform and organise symposia to properly interrogate the past for posterity. The old political landscape makes ruling parties dominant in every respect because of the lack of political awareness of the citizenry. The changing political landscape calls for the raising of the awareness of the people so that they could think critical and make informed choice despite the power of the state. Power is borrowed by leaders from the people. Hence its retention is not permanent. The past is gone. The present will become the past. And the future will come. This is inevitable. We must therefore prepare for the Third Republic. We must learn from the past to shape the future and not live in it.]]>