Although I await word from the Opposition Parties on the ground, I frankly CANNOT understand how on earth the Commonwealth Observers can commend the IEC (Gabriel Roberts) for a ‘job well done’. ‘Well done’ for whom? Certainly NOT the Gambian people in my opinion. At the eleventh hour, Gabriel Roberts single-handedly connived with the Dictatorship to change our electoral laws and in the process enabled thousands of foreigners to vote in Gambian elections they were NOT supposed to participate in. How at the end of the day the Observers reconciled their conclusions with Gabriel Roberts’ blatant violations of pivotal electoral laws, is mind-boggling to me. On all major controversies surrounding these elections (campaign air-time, counting centers, registration of illegal voters, voter registration challenges, and finally, eligibility to vote on election day) – on ALL these decisive issues, Gabriel Roberts/IEC sided with the Dictatorship to manipulate our laws to the Dictatorship’s advantage. This just reinforces my long held view about election observers. Their paramount objective is to avoid violence in the aftermath of elections. These people are NOT primarily concerned about whether elections are FREE and FAIR; as they want people to believe. Avoidance of violence and conduct of a free and fair election are two objectives that do NOT always coincide. Observers observe the dynamics in the country and endorse results that safeguard ‘peace’ in their view. In the Gambian context, the conventional wisdom is that if Yaya is defeated he would NOT relinquish power without a bloody fight. So, why NOT eagerly endorse any results that will avoid Yaya’s defeat? Until we hear from the leaders on the ground conceding defeat, we should NOT do like the Commonwealth Observers and just sweep under the rug BLATANT electoral malpractices that chanced in this election. KB >From: TOMBONG SAIDY <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: COMMONWEALTH OBSERVERS >Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 08:24:28 -0500 > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>