The leader of the opposition-National Reconciliation Party (NRP) has warned that nobody will rig elections and get away with it anymore in Gambia.
“Elections must be free and fair; that is very clear, absolutely clear,” the outspoken opposition politician, Hamat Bah told The Daily News in an exclusive interview.
He added: “Oh yeah, we wait for it [election]; is coming, is coming, is coming. Would you have ever thought that Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast would be defeated by opposition leader Alassane Ouatarra who was out of the country all his life?”
Gambia is gearing up for presidential elections due November 24, 2011. It will be the fourth presidential election under the second republic since the resumption of multi-party politics in 1996 following the 1994 military coup which ended former President Dawda Jawara’s thirty-year rule.
And President Yahya Jammeh who seized power from Jawara is seeking a fourth term. The general perception is that he will win.
However, the NRP leader holds a different view.  “Let’s wait for the results, you will be surprised, absolutely surprise. Gambians are ready for change and there will be change. After November 24, Gambia will never be the same; believe me it will never be the same Gambia.”
Opposition-NRP was the third largest party at the time of coalescing with the main opposition UDP in the previous presidential elections in 2006. And yet, they suffered a shocking defeat to the ruling APRC.
However, Hamat said, come November 2011, NRP will not join force with any political party. Yet he appeared extraordinarily optimistic of unseating president Jammeh. 
“Let me tell you that some of these traditional rulers will not even vote for Jammeh, I swear to the Holy Quran,” he said of the kinship campaign being mounted by traditional leaders.
“They just want serve their private interests. Simple! You think the President doesn’t know some of the chiefs don’t support him, he knows that.”
The NRP leader is, however, aware of the hurdles he has to cross inorder to oust Jammeh.
“Let government open the media for people to speak, let it allow people to talk,” he said. “GRTS should be given the opportunity to engage all politicians, civil society organizations, professional groups to discuss and debate on the future of this country. He added: “Let them accept that the opposition is no enemy. We are part and parcel of the country and we have a right to do a job that we have been assigned by our constitution.
“What worries me is the fact that institutions responsible for elections must be independent. They must be able to dispense their responsibility independently.”
Mr Bah urged Gambian youths to register and vote come next election.