Perhaps the NADD flag bearer could learn a thing or two from this
Richard Nixon quote: "I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and
they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their
position, I'd have done the same thing."
Malanding Jaiteh
[log in to unmask] wrote:
>Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
>Issue No.87/2006, 9-10 October, 2006
>
>
>
>NADD FLAG BEARER ON THE ELECTION
>
>Let me reiterate again that fundamental to the outcome of the election were
>three factors, that is the power of ideas, the power of human and material
>resources and the power of mass support.
>Any objective analyst would agree with me that NADD had overwhelmingly edge
>to both the APRC and UDP regarding content and delivery of convincing
>messages. This is the first point.
>Needless to say, the UDP and APRC had edge over NADD regarding material and
>human resources. In comparison to the two, the APRC had overwhelmingly edge
>in terms of material and human resources In short one could not see the
>distinction between state and party. Governors of divisions, chiefs of districts
>heads of villages, heads of institutions, prominent members of the business
>community, the army, police, NIA were all associated with the President’s
>campaign. Vehicles with numberless plates were distributed all over the country.
>Incumbency was exploited by the APRC to its optimum degree in mobilizing
>human and material resources of the state to its advantages.
>Suffice it to say that, having an edge in ideas or material and human
>resources is not sufficient to determine the outcome of elections unless such
>advantages could be transformed into mass support.
>The voters who could give mass support could be divided into three
>categories. There were the legitimate voters who acquired their voters’ cards in the
>proper manner and were ready to cast their votes without inducement or
>intimidation.
>Secondly, there may have been those underaged Gambians who had acquired
>their cards illegally by any false information to the registering officers to get
>registered. Thirdly, there may have been those non-Gambians who had
>acquired their voters cards illegally by posing as Gambian citizens.
>How many of those in these three categories of the voters cast or did not
>cast their votes? Who did they vote for? Why did they vote or fail to vote?
>These are questions that all analysts should be interested in. For our purpose,
>the analysis must not be an academic exercise. It must not be a refuge for
>the people to escape the consequences of their actions.
>It is only by facing soberly the inadequacies in thinking, actions and
>institutional process that the people will be enabled to make a fresh start in
>thinking and thus be empowered to take charge of their destiny.
>Outstripped by the APRC in terms of material and human resources NADD tried
>to compensate its inadequacies by giving convincing arguments of the
>demonstrated incapacities of the government and the type of leadership that is in
>store if the people were to maintain it in office.
>The deficits in liberty and prosperity that were prevalent in the country
>were put into sharp focus. NADD would not have had much to criticise about the
>electoral system except the abuse of incumbency and the need for the IEC to
>become more vigilant to prevent the underaged and the non Gambians from
>interfering with the electoral process if an unheard of fiasco did not have
>dramatic effect in undermining the comparative advantages acquired by the NADD
>Presidential candidate in the use of the media. NADD’s fundamental blunder was to
>have faith in the impartiality of the director of GRTS. Our cassettes were
>recorded and handed over to GRTS. There was no mechanism in place for joint
>editing by the IEC, representatives of the candidate and a representative of
>GRTS. In the future, we must insist on such a tripartite arrangement.
>Our first experience was the continuous featuring of a cassette of our No
>Kunda meeting for a period of three days. We received reports that the speeches
>of the flag bearer which exposed the regime were always featured at the tail
>end.
>The weight of the fact and figures were frequently impeached on by giving
>lengthy focus on other speakers who dwelled on the weakness of the other
>opposition candidate. The attitude of the GRTS management went from censorship to
>minimize the impact of the powers of our arguments to unbridled hostility and
>defamation when they waited until a day before the end of the campaign period
>to broadcast, on the TV a recording of Buba Sanyang in NIA custody
>indicating that he impersonated an IEC official to fill some nomination forms. The
>deception of the broadcast was without parallel. They broadcast a confession
>without approaching me for opinion. The IEC was not also informed before my
>nomination to at least discredit my nomination. The objective was therefore not
>to challenge my nomination since I had 6000 people supporting my nomination.
>The attempt was to mislead the voters.
>The deceptive tricks of the GRTS management reached repugnant and malicious
>proportion when they deliberately suppressed my last ten minutes broadcast
>where I dealt with their broadcast which the Observer Newspaper chose to
>publish under the heading “NADD’s Buba Sanyang spills the Beans” with my picture
>on the front cover. GRTS refused to cover my press conference. The Observer
>published it in an inside page. I called the IEC for them to intervene to
>ensure that my message is transmitted as a matter of right. I quoted section 93
>subsection (1) of the Election Decree for their observation to no avail.
>Section 93 subsection (1) states that “The Commission shall, during an election
>campaign period, ensure that equal air time is given to each candidate and
>national party on the public radio and television.” I emphasised that depriving me
>of my last ten minutes before the end of the campaign period constituted a
>gross violation of my right as a presidential candidate. The IEC appeared
>totally helpless in protecting my integrity against a deliberate attempt to
>defame me. To add insult to injury, the GRTS management made news out of the
>television broadcast and transmitted it by radio so that it would reach the whole
>country, on the day before elections which was supposed to be a resting
>period. The news item gave the impression that as a presidential candidate I asked
>a 7th grade child to fill my nomination form by impersonating an IEC
>official. I called the IEC to intervene to stop the erroneous and malicious
>broadcast but to no avail. The GRTS management did therefore make history in
>displaying a conduct that did not remotely resemble impartiality in the presidential
>election. They brought my whole campaign, whose content had been
>irreconcilable to any falsehood, into disrepute, without availing me y opportunity to
>clear any doubts.
>The deficit in liberty which is criticized during my campaign became nakedly
>evident because of the absence of any private radio station to disseminate
>my opinion as a Presidential candidate after the state media deliberately
>refused to broadcast my last message to the nation. It was evident to the GRTS
>management that reputable journalistic practice requires the publication or
>broadcasting of two sides of a story. They preferred to negate my own opinion so
>as to make fiction to pass as facts. Where then was my freedom to be heard?
>Where lies the fairness in suppressing my last broadcast? How can I commend
>the IEC for presiding over a free and fair election when they were impotent in
>directing the director of GRTS to broadcast my last statement as required by
>law and stop their fabrications against my integrity on the day before an
>election?
>In fact, many people who had an axe to grind with NADD began to spread the
>rumour that my nomination papers were fraudulently filled even though I had
>about 6000 people supporting my nomination.
>Before taking leave of the subject allow me to prove how ridiculous it is to
>even hint that Halifa Sallah could ask anyone to impersonate an official to
>enable him to acquire electoral advantage. First and foremost, I have never
>canvassed a relative or a neighbour to vote for me so as not to violate their
>free will to choose. I have written countless letters to the IEC to expose
>corrupt registration practices so that we can have free and fair elections.
>Although, I am a National Assembly member my earnings go mostly to render
>services to others instead of wining and dining at state expense. I have tried
>to make my wife to get the highest level of education so that she would be
>completely independent in getting what she wants in life rather than depend on
>loot from a state to live in prosperity. What temptation is there that Halifa
>Sallah could be subjected to, to the point of motivating a young man who is
>an extremely famous football player in his area, who is known to both young
>and old, to go to an area where he is well known to impersonate an IEC
>official, just to fill my nomination forms. This notion is absurd to say the least.
>Notwithstanding, the broadcast is the chief event which had a devastating
>impact on the electorate. I cannot say how many people were convinced by the
>broadcast that NADD could not win and either decided to vote for another party
>or abstained entirely from voting. I cannot tell how many youths in Kombo
>East were intimidated. What is evident to me is that when I visited Buba Sanyang’
>s family many of his friends had been seen by people in the community or
>their families and advised to stay clear of politics.
>The television and radio broadcast on Buba did not reduce the climate of
>uncertainty, if anything one should expect the situation to have been worsened.
>The truth however is that before the people went to fill my nomination
>forms, I was invited by Mrs. Amie Sillah who was in charge of the operation to
>inspire them. As a civic educator I gave them an inspiring speech and asked each
>of them to be given a cassette to play for the people to listen before being
>asked to nominate me.
>I therefore wish to call on all youths not to support me unless they are
>ready to defend their principles at all times. Anybody who makes the mistake to
>tarnish my image no matter under what pressure would be disowned and pressure
>be put for ones prosecution. We will not allow again such simplistic
>disinformation tactics to affect our progress. After lessons are drawn from Buba’s
>experience any NADD militant who abandoned the message and proceeded to claim
>to do a criminal act under NADD’s auspices could only be a common criminal
>implanted to do something else other than to serve NADD. When Amie Sillah was
>put into contact with Buba while he was in detention he had confessed that he
>mentioned her name because of fear.
>Suffice it to say that when Mrs. Sillah finished her discussion with the NIA
>I was informed. I did not take the matter lightly. I decided to wage a
>battle of integrity by requesting the IEC chairman to post all the names of the
>people registered under Kombo East and request for scrutiny of the list. I
>volunteered that if any person’s name is found to be featured under false
>pretence I would be willing to subtract it from the 6000 or so names I had
>submitted and would withdraw my candidature if the number fell short of the 5000
>persons required to be qualified to stand as a presidential candidate. The
>chairman of the IEC indicated that this was unnecessary. I further made the
>proposal that he should give me photocopies of the names from Kombo East so that I
>would proceed to do my independent investigation and subtract any name found
>to have been acquired through dubious means. The chairman of the IEC indicated
>that it was not necessary. This was proposed few days after nomination. It
>is therefore amazing that nothing was done until the end of the campaign
>period to try to attack my integrity.
>I therefore saw the move by the GRTS management as a deliberate tactic to
>erode the confidence of the voters in me. Taking the margin of victory, I
>cannot sincerely claim that this unprofessional conduct of the GRTS management
>barred me from being elected. However, it stands to reason that I cannot have
>respect for an electoral system which could not protect any integrity at the
>most relevant period of an electoral process.
>In this respect, I can only observe that when it came to the battle for mass
>support NADD was disadvantaged at a time when people had little time to make
>a decision on to what to do with their votes.
>I cannot honestly say what the number of votes would have been if the GRTS
>did not broadcast a farcical picture that NADD was in complicity with corrupt
>electoral practices which was orchestrated by the Daily Observer newspaper.
>History will therefore record the tragic-comical scene which should earn GRTS
>an award in outdoing all broadcasting stations in the world in
>misrepresenting a Presidential candidate.
>Notwithstanding my inability to combat the scheme of the GRTS management at
>the right time, the GRTS team that covered our meeting in the country have
>enough evidence that NADD is in the heart and minds of the Gambian people
>irrespective of the attempt to tarnish its image.
>Let me now focus on the results and the lessons to be derived from them. We
>are informed by the IEC that Gambia has 670, 336 registered voters. Out of
>this 392, 685 voted in the 2006 presidential elections. This amounts to 58% of
>the registered voters. I have 23, 473 votes or 6%, President Jammeh had 264,
>404 votes or 67% and Ousainou Darboe has 104, 808 votes or 27%.
>Interestingly enough in the 2001 presidential elections there were 504, 301
>registered voters. 457, 484 voters voted comprising 89.83% of the votes.
>President Jammeh had 242,304 votes, Ousainou Darboe had 149, 448 votes.
>Compared to 2001, there is an increase of 166,035 registered voters in 2006.
>However the number of voters who voted in 2006 as compared to 2001 fell by
>64, 799 votes.
>It is also evident that the number of votes received by President Jammeh
>increased by 22, 104 votes as compared to 2001 even though there is a rise in
>number of voters by 166, 000 votes. In the same vein, Ousainou Darboe’s vote
>decreased from 149, 448 in 2001 to 104,808 in 2006. This is a decline of 44,640
>votes. Needless to say, the UDP/NRP/GPDP alliance was based on the premise
>that if the UDP served as the vanguard of the opposition parties it will
>accumulate the votes of the NRP leader of 35, 671 in 2001 as well as the votes of
>other parties to win the election.
>However, instead of Ousainou Darboe adding 35, 671 votes to his 149,448 he
>had in 2001 there is a decrease of 80,000 votes from the coalition votes. What
>is responsible for this? What is responsible for a voter turn out of 392,
>685 out of a 670, 336 registered voters. Are the figures realistic or does this
>mean that all parties in the Gambia are rejected, that the Gambia is a
>failed democracy? Should all parties resign and allow for a new breed of
>representatives to emerge or is the country demanding new institutions and approaches
>to politics that can earn the confidence and trust of the voters in the
>system? Is the result a strategic victory or a tactical error for the opposition?
>To be continued
>
>
>
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
|
