I think the outcome of this election is very disappointing however that does
not mean that the opposition will do poorly in the forthcoming general
elections. I personally feel optimistic about the coming elections
especially the presidential seat. If truly the people of Kiang had sold
their votes perhaps not all other constituencies will fall into the same
bandwagon for the presidential seat.The political battle is by no means
over. I must commend the people of Baddibou for doing the right thing!

The Gambia is at a very fragile state of affairs and the only way to turn
things around for the betterment of all Gambians is to vote Yaya Jammeh
out.If they are so confident of their support in the country then why is the
local government elections still not held? As others have suggested before,
it is high time we extend our support to the opposition in the Gambia to
make a real difference.

Long live the Gambia

Mori
----- Original Message -----
From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 9:11 PM
Subject: The Case for Bridled Scepticism


> I counsel those of us who sincerely believe that Jammeh and or the APRC
> cannot win free and fair elections in the Gambia or anywhere else for that
> matter, not to jump the gun by conceding "defeat" in Kiang and treat these
> unofficial elections results with bridled scepticism. The case for such
> bridled scepticism is overwhelming: reports of vote-buying, voter
> intimidation and political skulduggery by the APRC thuggish philistines
were
> rampant, in especially, where the Opposition are alleged to have lost.
> At any rate, the playing field was never level to the point where one can
> allude to or even attach fairness and freeness to the whole exercise. We
must
> all allow for the UDP to officially concede "defeat", independent media
> reportage, the IEC - Oh dear! That outfit again - to make public its
figures
> before we draw up any final conclusions. I wouldn't be caught aback if we
are
> duly informed that indeed the results of Kiang were questionable and
> contestible legally. Kiang being in the LRD - home to a fanatical imbecile
> like Baba Jobe and where his terroristic activities are effectively
networked
> and entranched - had more cases of voter intimidation, vote-buying and
> political shenanigans than elsewhere. I submit that at the very to
influence
> the outcome the elections through such modus operandi, the Opposition
should
> have thrown in their towels and not legitimise a process there was
abundant
> evidence of that the outcome was being illegal influenced. It tantamounted
to
> sheer complacency, naivety and hubris to go ahead with a process you keep
> crying foul over and expect to look plausible when you contest/protest the
> outcome of such process without extricating oneself from the said process.
If
> in the event the Opposition goes ahead and protest/contest the Kiang
results
> - as i suspect they will - they will have none to blame save themselves
for
> being taken for another ride - yet again.
> Another point that needs highlighting is the question of the vote-buying
> spree the APRC embarked upon, in especially, Kiang. Here the Opposition
lack
> of funding - in terms of logistics to effectively coordinate their
activities
> and not matching the APRC in vote-buying spree - was laid bare. Those of
us
> who want to walk the walk and merely talk the talk, should start planning
> ahead and finesse means that will aid the Opposition's logistic base to be
> effective in stamping out vote-buying sprees, and other fraudulent
election
> mal-practices. We start liaising - especially thoose groups interesting in
> aiding/complementing the Opposition's decent efforts to bring some degree
of
> normalcy in the Gambia. To this end, i propose the various political party
> elect representatives in the Diaspora who will act as their official
> mouth-pieces to lubricate/smoothen our work with them. We need to start
work
> on this - immediately. We simply cannot sit on the side-lines and await
> Jammeh to nick another election right in front of our own noses and start
> whingeing non-stop about it. The action has got to start NOW!
> Brother KB and i are here on the record for raising the flag that these
> by-elections and all elections administered by the current IEC set-up for
> that matter cannot be free and fair under the present milieu. In
particular,
> i wrote two pieces [check them in the archives: A Dose of Cynicism on the
> Sami Chieftaincy Elections and The Opposition's Adaption to a Fait
Accompli]
> a while back stating with finesse and vigour that there is a sense in
which
> we ought to play the game according to our own terms and not those imposed
> upon us by Jammeh's unilateral wet-dreams. These by-elections bear such
> imprint. In the first place, contesting these by-elections contradicts the
> very noble spirit which propelled the Opposition to contest such
unilateral
> wet-dreams like the unconstitutional sacking of Johnson as head of the IEC
> and the appointment of Roberts as his successor. After all, what is the
> Opposition going to gain from retaining these two seats in a parliament
that
> has less than a year to expire? To be sure, there is pschological
dimension
> to retaining the seats - especially as a morale booster to rally the
troops
> against the enemy. Save that pschological dimension to the equation, there
> was an overwhelming case for applying the same rationale and or wisdom
> applied earlier to Johnsons illegal firing to the by-elections. I grant it
> would make things murkier constitutionally - and to a qualifying degree -
the
> practicalities of ironing out the wrinkles of the election agenda would be
> engaged in a deadlock. On the face it and in principle this is preferable
to
> inherently inconsistent actions of contesting both Roberts' chairmanship
in
> the courts and by-elections administered by him. After all, if the
Opposition
> concedes "defeat" in Kiang, the psychological argument becomes a morale
> booster topsy-turvy. Besides, it just doesn't make sense for the Oposition
to
> participate in elections which they admit to not being conducive enough
for
> free and fair elections, lose such elections and turn around pointing
fingers
> at such inherent flaws as grounds for not contesting results that emanate
> from aforesaid. This is simply ridiculous. We must question and ridicule
this
> election-at-all-cost mind-set. If we assess the situation and feel the
flaws
> that continue to make the playing field ruggedly dishevelled in favour of
the
> APRC, then by all means we must extricate ourselves from the whole
process.
> People like Darbo - who should know better after the harrowing experiences
of
> 1996 - should never allow themselves to be hoodwinked a second time round
by
> a person of Jammeh's mental calibre - a man who cannot even compete with a
> mosquito in terms of the number of brain cells each is endowed with. I
have a
> sense of foreboding - or is that deja vu? - that a replay of the 1996
> scenario is set to be replayed in the event that the general elections
ever
> do take place. This is why i'm opposed in principle to elections being
held
> under the current milieu. It just doesn't tell well on us as a nation to
have
> a crass imbecile like Jammeh play these stupid games on us - games that
> toddlers can even decipher from the word go.
> In conclusion, i reiterate my earlier call that we exercise bridled
> scepticism until the whole picture emerges before conceding "defeat" - i
> cringe at the thought of it. Be that as it may, and in the interim, as KB
> warned earlier, any attempts to intellectually rationalise an APRC
"victory"
> as plausible or holding water would be fully engaged and debunked as the
sham
> it is - albeit all the time constraints present circumstances circumscribe
my
> efforts/desire to engage in fruitful exchanges on this List on topical
> issues.
>
> Hamjatta - Kanteh
> [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]
> URL: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/hamzakanteh/myhomepage/newsletter.html
>
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