Friends, may I as the ignorant person I am ask you:

has the IEC declared  4 or 5 candidates has fulfilled the election decree
and are nominated for the election ?

Where can an ordinary gambian see f.in. the candidate lists 5000 voters
names ? Are all 25.000 names controlled, and how are they controlled ? that
they are 25000 individuals, and with 200 x 5 from every administrative area
? Is it "voters" or "registered voters", who can sign ?
With 5 party- candidates that means that 1000 individual voters from each
administrative area must have signed up. Is that realistic ?
If I was in the Gambia to morrow, where will I go to see, control this ?

Can some one enlighten me a bit here please.

Regards Asbjørn Nordam




> From: Foroyaa <<A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>>
> Subject: FOROYAA Burning Issues
> 
> 
>> The Presidential Candidate In The Making
>> The Independent Electoral Commission has established 18th October 2001 as
>> the date for the nomination of presidential candidates.
>> Foroyaa has reliably gathered that the APRC, The UDP, The NCP and PDOIS
>> have picked nomination forms. The NRP leader has already declared that he
>> is going on a campaign.
>> The purpose for taking the forms is to satisfy Section 42 subsection (2)
>> of the Elections Decree which sates that "A Candidates for election to the
>> office of president shall be nominated in the prescribed form of part A of
>> schedule 4, by not less than 5000 voters whose names appear in the register
>> of voters with at least two hundred voters being drawn from each
>> administration area". Between now and the 18th of September 2001 it is
>> likely that political parties will be sending those who are interested in
>> their candidate being nominated for the presidential elections around to
>> get people to fill the forms. Political parties should explain very clearly
>> what the nomination papers are all about. It is absolutely essential for
>> the IEC to sensitise the public on such nomination papers. Some people are
>> claiming that registration of voters is taking place. Others feel that they
>> are being tricked to explain who they support before the election. It
>> should be clear to people that this is a legal requirement which is
>> designed to short list presidential candidates. If one cannot get five
>> thousand votes in a presidential election then one would not see the need
>> to waste ones time to seek the mandate of the people. In actual fact, two
>> mechanisms are utilised to short list candidates. One is money and the
>> other is the number of nominators. It goes without say that the more money
>> is utilised the more an electoral system becomes undemocratic  and corrupt.
>> The best mechanism is to rely on the number of nominators. In the Gambia a
>> presidential candidate has to deposit 10,000 dalasis. Section 47 paragraph
>> (a) of the constitution states that " A candidate for election to the
>> office of president shall, on or before nomination day-
>> (a) satisfy the commission that his or her nomination is supported by not
>> less than five thousand registered voters consisting of not less than two
>> hundred from each administrative area, as signed by their signatures or
>> otherwise;"
>> Paragraph (b) adds that the candidate shall:
>> "deposit with the commission such sum as may be prescribed by the Elections
>> Decree or any Act of the National Assembly replacing or amending the
>> decree, which shall be returned if he or she receives not less than forty
>> per cent of the valid votes cast at the election."

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