Joe,
        I'd like to try to address the issues you raised about the UDP
regarding their decision to boycott the past parliamentary elections. You
lament the net effect of  the boycott especially relative to the excesses and
patently undemocratic nature of the regime of Yahya Jammeh. I wholly
understand why you prefer an increased opposition representation in
parliament  because you have consistently said and done something to
facilitate the democratisation process. The coalition having fought hard and
long for The Gambian people to be able to decide their fate within a
democratic framework was faced with a stark set of realities . The realities
are issues that are at the heart of a functional democracy and they revolve
around the key issues of who is eligible to vote and how would they vote. The
only resolution to these key issues is for all participants in the electoral
process to agree  and abide by a simple set of rules that define who can vote
and how. From the time Bishop Johnson and his colleagues were unlawfully
removed from the I.E.C all of the opposition parties have consistently
objected to their replacements by writing to the very crooks who were chosen
by Yahya as replacements, newsconferences, litigation and official complaints
to outside parties. The I.E.C at the urging of the government simply
subverted their own regulations and all of the laws stipulating the conduct
of elections. They saw and conducted themselves as a partisan agency actively
engaging in outright illegal acts knowing fully well that the equally corrupt
courts will not address these grave violations of laws. In correspondence
over months, the coalition made it abundantly clear that they would not
countenace any I.E.C regulation that altered in any way the key question of
who is eligible to vote . This was prompted by an I.E.C floated idea in the
way of press reports that they were going change their regulations to permit
those who were not on the primary registers they had just concluded would be
allowed to vote as long as they had valid Gambian identity papers. In effect
they were going to actively participate in an out right fraudulent sceheme in
which the government through the department of interior would issue official
papers to foreigners both at offices and private homes and these folks would
inturn go to the I.E.C and be issued voters cards .This had the express
purpose of diluting the franchise of legitimate Gambian voters who underwent
an arduos vetting process with all party representatives actively
participating even as the APRC thugs did their best to disrupt  these
undertakings through violence and socalled deportations. With all parties
insisting on the integrity of the voter rolls, the I.E.C summoned the
election monitors a few days before the polls and said they will let only
voters registered on the initial rolls. Then on the eve on the elections, The
I.E.C reversed itself and waited till 11.00pm and went on TV to announce that
they were opening the flood gates to people they have illegally added onto
the rolls . One may be tempted to ask why did the coalition and all the rest
of the opposition go along with this grave violation that was going to
invalidate the wishes of the majority of the Gambian people?". For the
coalition who did not have access to the same TV to adress the relatively few
Gambians with working TVs, it became  a question  of how to reach most of
their supporters in the few hours left before the polls opened. Except for
their poll monitors and some of their grassroot organisers who had cell
phones, there was no practical way to reach even a fraction of their
supporters. They were unwilling to announce a withdrawal from the
preisdential elections that had no likelihood of reaching their supporters in
time . Besides the supporters were entitled to a full explaination of how
their franchise was being illegally usurped and within the span of a few
hours there is no practical way this could be done. It was then decided that
they would remain in the race and review thoroughly the altered voter list
that was used in the flawed elections. Such a review process takes time
because you had to meticulously look at every name at every jurisdiction to
determined who else apart from the actual residents voted . When the review
was completed it was determined that in excess of 50,000(fifty thousand)
ineligible voters cast ballots. This number exceeds by far the margin  of
victory in an election in which 500000 people voted. When these illegal
voters were discovered, the coalition wrote to the I.E.C to ask them to
specifically expunge them from the voter rolls. They are unwilling to do that
not because these are fanthom names but it would in effect invalidate an
election they have worked hard to rig. But on the other hand leaving over
fifty thousand illegal voters on the rolls amounts to perpetually
disenfranchising the Gambian people for the forseable future. This is why the
coalition is insisting that this must be done because unless the people of
our country are in a position to chose for themselves , it would just be  a
charade. Electoral politics can only work if the rules are followed. If the
party who by definition has a responsibilty to the nation and partcularly
thier supporters see a blatant scheme to deny the Gambian people their basic
rights of choosing their leaders, they must address it appropriately.
Elections are all about the wishes of the people and the current state of
affairs is designed to thwart those scared wishes of our people. The UDP
members of parliament who gave up their seats have always taken their
responsibilities seriously and worked hard for the interest of their people.
They would like nothing more than continuing to do that. But they cannot
represent their people within the context of a fatally flawed system that is
designed to  thwart the wishes of voters within specific jurisdictions. It is
immoral to knowingly mislead ones own constituency if you know that the
government will bus in poachers to disenfranchise them . This is the issue. I
can assure you that all of the coalition voters undertsand, agree and
actively support the boycott. The international community similarly have the
same sentiment because they too understand that the question of gets to vote
is fundamental to any democracy. It has to be resolved to have any meaningful
democracy.This government will see very soon what will happen. The coalition
has a full fledged strategy on how to proceed and i am confident they will
prevail. Their committment to our people and country is strong  and the
democratic ideals they have always striven for will be validated to the
satisfaction of all who wish our country well.
          In conclusion I hope you understand that the boycott was onlyan
intial step albiet a profound one. It was undertaken because it had to be.It
was not a spur of the moment  decison. This government does not want to
contest ideas. It is actively scheming to evolve a docile banana republic in
which it would be government by sycophancy, terror and corruption.
Politicians who represent Gambians who want a different country have to stay
course and do what is right . And i think refusing to take part in blatant
electoral fraud is a good start.
Karamba

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