As Government Casts Doubt Over His Candidacy, Coalition Leader Lashes Out At Opponents Email This Page Print This Page The Independent (Banjul) August 24, 2001 Posted to the web August 24, 2001 Sheikh Al-Kinky Sanyang Banjul, the Gambia The secretary general and party leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the presidential flag bearer of the coalition of opposition parties Ousainou Darboe has reacted to claims attributed to the Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice Joseph Joof in a local newspaper casting doubt on his qualification to run as a presidential candidate. In an interview with journalists on Tuesday, Mr. Darboe said he is more constitutionally qualified to contest for the presidency than President Jammeh. He noted that he would have completely disregarded the publication if it had not come from a lawyer, but what surprised him, he said was that the chief legal adviser to the government of The Gambia has demonstrated two things: "It is either his total lack of knowledge and understanding of the constitution or a deliberate misinformation to the people of The Gambia," he revealed. Mr. Darboe who contested the 1996 elections said the constitutional provisions are very clear. He quoted section 62 (3) as declaring that any person who while holding a public office has been found guilty by a commission of enquiry for corruption or abuse of office should be disqualified from holding office or contesting elections. He further disclosed that there is absolutely nobody in his sane mind in this country who would say that for the past ten years he has served in the public service. He told reporters that he ceased to be a public officer in May of 1980. The coalition presidential contender challenged that if his opponents want to look for a disqualifying factor, he said they should look to other places. He also pointed out that section 90 equally provides that a person is not qualified to contest as a member of the National Assembly if among other things he appears before the commission of inquiry and the commission finds him guilty of abuse of office, corruption or other misdeeds and has not appealed against it. The UDP leader said he was completely flabbergasted that the Secretary of State for Justice could demonstrate his lack of understanding and knowledge of the constitution. "I am constitutionally qualified, in fact more qualified than Yahya Jammeh to contest the elections this October, because he has toppled a constitutionally elected government in the country, the greatest crime in the world," he revealed. He called on all Gambians, supporters of the UDP and the coalition to disregard what he called 'fictitious nonsense' and rally behind the UDP and the coalition. Responding to questions from reporters as to what has motivated this after contesting the 1996 elections, Mr. Darbo said the move by SOS Joof was motivated by fear over what they saw during the launching of the presidential campaign in Brikama, which left the APRC shaken and confused. "They know they are standing on quicksand which is fast drifting under them, that's why they started misinforming people like throwing a cat among the pigeons for them all to fly," he pointed out. Darboe also believes that the IEC has no authority to disqualify him saying that the election decree has it that anybody who is dissatisfied with the nomination of a person, should take the person to court. He also confirmed that he has not refunded the money he owed to SSFHC because there is a judicial procedure pending as the chairman of the commission was told that he wasn't competent to preside over that matter because he has personal knowledge of the matter, and that is against the rule of natural justice. He concluded "there are judicial procedures so they don't want to prejudge anything". _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------