L-ers
It seems there is high participation by the youth of Senegal in choosing who
should run their country. This is a great move as it determines or predicts
what tomorrow will be for them and as we will see, the youth will be a very
strong voice that will be listened to if they participate and they have.

Lately on the L, proposals/ideas have been coming to better brighten
the political climate in The Gambia. As a Gambian, I would be very proud to
have election procedures confirmed "fair" by independent observers as it
happenned in Senegal. During the past year or so there has been several
correspondenses on the L about the political situation in The Gambia and
where our beloved nation will be years ahead but the only way we can achieve
that is to participate in the event(s). I have read on one of the articles
forwarded by Amadou Kabir Njie that there over 106k+ (if I correctly
remember) registered Senegal voters abroad and I guess each one of them
taking the trouble of being registered, has cast his/her vote. What a great
move.

Well, it is our turn now. We have a year or a little more for general
elections in The Gambia and plans have emerged on what we can do, I do not
think we should waite any longer to put plans and ideas in to practice. Let
us all participate and make a better Gambia. I very well commend Mr Saine
and the rest for the wonderful ideas they are bringing on please let us do
something. We have nothing but our lovely GAMBIA.

Ebou Secka
A concerned Citizen


>From: Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Second Presidential Ballot Anticipated In Senegal
>Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 19:44:01 +0100
>
>Second Presidential Ballot Anticipated In Senegal
>
>Second Presidential Ballot Anticipated In Senegal
>February 28, 2000
>
>
>DAKAR, Senegal (PANA) - The possibility of a second presidential ballot in
>Senegal is beginning to emerge, according to unofficial results of Sunday's
>presidential election, which started trickling in Monday.
>
>If this happens, it will be the first run-off of its kind in the country
>which had organised eight presidential elections before.
>
>"Since elections have been organised in this country, incumbent presidents
>have always swept the polls in the very first round and Abdou Diouf's party
>had predicted so this time, but the results so far suggest otherwise," a
>political analyst in Dakar said.
>
>According to unofficial results, Abdoulaye Wade, the main opposition leader
>who had lost to Diouf three times before, is giving the incumbent a real
>chase for the top post this time.
>
>Analysts are of the view that even if Diouf eventually emerges the winner,
>he could probably only do so in the second round. But this would depend on
>his ability to negotiate with certain sections of the opposition to swing
>their votes behind him.
>
>In Linguere, one of the major towns in central Senegal, the unofficial
>results showed that Diouf's Socialist Party had polled 1,306 votes as
>against 1,226 obtained by Djibo Ka's Union for Democratic Renewal.
>
>In the 1993 elections, for example, Diouf scored a first round victory of
>164,829 votes or 61.63 percent as against 73,492 votes representing 27.48
>percent by his closest rival, Wade.
>
>In the current election, apart from Wade winning, trailing or even running
>neck to neck with the incumbent in some zones, a third voice, in the person
>of Moustapha Niasse, is emerging as another political force in the country.
>He is currently coming strongly behind Wade.
>
>The other emerging trend in the current election is the massive
>participation of youths in the poll than in previous elections. They hope
>their concerns, particularly unemployment, would be addressed.
>
>According to Corine Sow, a 19-year-old first time voter, the time has come
>for the youths to assert themselves in the political life of the country so
>that "we will all collectively bear the blame or take the praise for what
>goes right in the country."
>
>"We have for a long time left the politics of the land in the hands of
>adults and...and this time around we want to participate and have a say in
>the life of our country," she added.
>
>In Dakar, many youths remained at polling stations up to the end of voting
>to ascertain that nothing went wrong and that the elections were conducted
>transparently, while more of them were along the roads and in front of
>their houses with their ears glued to transistor radio sets listening to
>the outcome of the vote.
>
>"We, the youths have suffered much especially as regards jobs and even
>though we do not expect miracles from any change in the political baton, we
>want to ascertain that our hopes and aspirations for a better future are
>not truncated through rigging and bad handling of the electoral process,"
>Ndiaga Cisse, a 22-year-old student of sociology at the Dakar university,
>said.
>
>For the first time in the electoral life of Senegal, a woman reared her
>head to contest for the presidency, although she withdrew a few weeks
>before the election.
>
>Mariame Wane Ly, 50, entered into politics in 1969 as a member of the
>leftist youth group who have now joined the African Party for Democracy and
>Socialism of Landing Savane, which is now supporting wade.
>
>"After analysing the political situation with my comrades in the Senegalese
>Women's Council, we realised that no matter how intelligent, competent or
>experienced a woman may be, the highest position she can get in a party
>apparatus is the chair of the women's wing, so we decided to float a party,
>the party of African Renewal," she said.
>
>She added that she decided to withdraw her candidacy when she discovered
>that the elections would not be fair and as a result of the emerging
>violent trends, but added that she has not completely abandoned the idea.
>
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Copyright © 2000 Panafrican News Agency. All Rights Reserved.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------