'Britain Will Respond Positively to Gambia's Electoral Requests'



The Independent (Banjul)

October 6, 2000

Banjul

John Perrott the British High Commissioner to The Gambia has promised that
Britain will respond positively to any request from the government or individual
political parties to assist in the election process next year.

High Commissioner Perrott said during an interview with The Independent Friday,
that his country is ready 'to play a role' in the elections if a section of The
Gambia's political spectrum makes a request to the British government to that
effect. Mr. Perrott emphasised that any collaborative effort by his country
should not be interpreted as support for any party or general policy, taking
part in the elections. He clarified that support from the British government
should be seen in the context of ensuring that the rule of law, constitutional
provisions and democratic processes are observed in the conduct of the
elections. 'It is normal for multi-lateral agencies such as the UN or the EU to
support election processes in countries like The Gambia and our future
contribution would be in this tradition', he explained.

On the scheduled dates for the elections, Mr. Perrott held that it is more
important to ensure that the election processes are conducted 'in a free and
fair fashion than the actual issue of timing'. He said the British government
would concern itself with the need for democratic debate about the election
scheduled. ' Since The Gambia Government has committed itself to holding
elections, which is as good as ensuring that elections take place' he argued.

Mr. Perrott said the High Commission is receptive to the initiative of
introducing international observes in The Gambia to witness the elections,
although he warned that there may be 'huge' resource-implications in despatching
international observers to every polling booth in the country with a view to
monitoring and reporting the progress of the elections.

Mr. Perrott who referred to The Gambia as a 'developing democracy' said it is
important that The Gambia 'satisfactorily' subject itself to what he called the
'test' of democracy, rule of law with a view to avoiding circumstances when one
party would entertain distrust in the election process.

Mr. Perrott also said that the 'health' of our democracy remains arguable since
according to him democracy cannot be defined in absolute terms. 'One has to
accept that what is regarded as the norm and what is in proper observance of the
democratic principle in one country may not be right in another country' he
posited. However, he declared that 'what we look for in The Gambia is the things
that we use to monitor democracy to gauge whether things are good or not and
they are freedom of speech, rule of law, access to the media and observance of
all constitutional provisions'. According to High Commissioner Perrott what
interests the British government now is whether the situation in The Gambia is
getting better, stable or worse.

He said he was puzzled by sentiments opposed to the resumption of British
military aid to The Gambia. Mr. Perrott argued though that all sectors in which
The Gambia Government was working were 'worthy of our support'.

'We are very pleased to send a Gambian officer cadet to Sandhurst, which I think
is what people were talking about. If such criticisms should come six years
after the coup, then I would say to those people that a course at Sandhurst
involves training soldiers to be leaders, better soldiers and exponents of human
rights,' Mr. Perrott argued.

On the fate of UK's aid package to The Gambia should the APRC government fail to
meet with the Commonwealth Harare principle, Mr. Perrott said the British
government in the 'spirit' of the Commonwealth strongly calls for the quashing
of decrees proscribing political parties and hindering the workings of the
Gambian media. He revealed that the British government has joined the
Commonwealth in its concern and stance on the question of human rights in The
Gambia.

Mr. Perrott also described as 'regrettable' the harassment and intimidation
meted out to Gambian journalists. He said his office would continue to deplore
harassment on journalist who he said are contributing vibrantly to the
development of The Gambia as a fledgling democracy. He believed that Gambian
journalists are giving a good account of themselves as far as investigative
journalism is concerned.

He pointed out that despite their tribulation, Gambian journalists are fearless
in publishing reports, which reflect adversely on government and other sectors
of the society.

The High Commissioner said that any legislation for a National Media Council
(NMC) should be seen as being in line with democratic principles and allow for
freedom of expression. Any bill passed into law would be rightly criticised if
it contained restrictive clauses contrary to such principles and freedoms he
added.

On the Commission and Coroner's findings, regarding the April 10 and 11 student
unrest, the High Commission said he hoped the president would decide that 'it is
right and proper' to publish the findings. Mr.

Perrott who expressed disappointment that the reports have not been published,
said the British government would appeal for openness, transparency and
promptness in the handling of the investigations. The High Commissioner said he
wouldn't seek to pre-judge the outcome of the findings by declaring his office's
stance on the issue, but preferred instead to adopt a 'wait and see policy'
before the findings are made public.

On the DFID development support, which resumed in 1998, Mr. Perrott outlined the
area of governance and poverty reduction as the focus of British development aid
to The Gambia. He said this programme aims to assist The Gambia Government in
efforts to improve governance, promote human rights and facilitate social
inclusion and economic well being of Gambians. Under the DFID, the British
government allocates millions of pounds for an average of three years to support
various projects in The Gambia, ranging from education management projects,
records management, mainstreaming poverty and gender and community based-
organisation capacity building projects among others.

The British High Commissioner also unequivocally declared support for
organisations like the WHO in advocating for the elimination of Female Genital
Mutilation. He said the British government is helping countries where the
practice prevails to put into action plans and legislation that would see to the
eradication of FGM. He observed that although The Gambia Government recognises
its harmful effects FGM had not been prohibited. According to figures FGM is
widespread in The Gambia and ranges from 60 to 90 percent. He hoped that an
objective and energetic debate on this emotive issue would continue amongst all
in Gambian civil society.

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