We may be in the minority but we support the idea of being a monarchy,. "Let us crown him", the Banjul parliamentarian bellowed from the floor of the National Assembly, an idea echoed by another member of the ruling party.
We were convinced by the reasoning advanced by Hon. Saine rather than the carrot he dangled before the opposition. He reasoned that since the opposition has tried and failed to dislodge the dictator for twenty years, it is about time that the opposition come on board in support of the idea.
After all, if His Excellency Junkung is anointed King Junkung I, he reasoned, that will create the position of a Prime Minister which can be occupied by one of the opposition parties. That way, the parliamentarian continued his flawless reasoning, the opposition will finally have a shot at running something in The Gambia free of King Junkung's interference. Dictatorial tendencies simply evaporate with being crowned King. For non-Banjulians, we call this Banjul Central logic.
Given the promise Hon. Saine's proposal holds, we are surprised that the opposition did not jump at the idea, head first, because it will solve two of their immediate problems (i) put them in the driver's seat as Head of Government and (ii) provide them a backdoor route to the reinstatement of Gambia's membership in the Commonwealth which was, if we can recall, a major preoccupation of the opposition.
In fact, he biggest prize of crowning King Junkung I of Gambia is putting the international spotlight back on the Gambia, once more, after the HIV/AIDS medical break-through, to be likened to the crowning of the late King Bokassa I of the Central Africa Republic. The Right Honorable was probably unaware of this possibility which will be the surest way of getting rid of both King Junkung I and the buffoon from Banjul Central.
