Great points, Malamin. These are the types of questions that should
preoccupy the minds of our leaders as they tackle the shenanigans Gabriel
Roberts is up to. Clearly, the Opposition CANNOT trust Gabriel Roberts and
his cohorts. I am also NOT very familiar with how the IEC operates. But from
what I could gather from people like Lamin PF Manneh (that worked at the
PIEC), Party militants would be present at the polling stations. Party
militants can also be present in vehicles when ballots are transferred from
polling stations to counting centers. But what will an unarmed UDP militant
(for example) do if Baabaa Jobe and his thugs ambush them and want to steal
the ballot boxes? The Opposition MUST insist that there be on-the-spot
counting. That is the least risky proposition, contrary to what Gabriel
Roberts is saying. APRC thugs will NOT dare ambush a whole polling station.
They know they will be outnumbered at the polling stations. What the vermin
want to do, is go lay ambush in the bush and intercept vehicles carrying at
best one Opposition militant; and at worst don’t be surprised if Roberts
says that only IEC officials and ‘police officials’ should be in the
vehicles. They want to corner the Opposition in an area where the Opposition
can be outnumbered and steal the ballots.
There is absolutely no merit in Gabriel Roberts’ argument that there will be
violence if votes are counted at polling centers. We all know that it is
APRC thugs that create the violence. They went on the rampage in Baddibu
after they lost the by-election. We also know that they are cowards that
only attack in droves when they outnumber people. I can assure you that when
the votes are counted at polling stations and the vermin see that they are
outnumbered and they lost, none of them will dare sneeze. They will all run
and take cover. As we speak, even Yaya is ready to bolt. The vermin is RICH.
None of these people have conviction in what they are doing. When push comes
to shove, Yaya is going to run away. The days that the criminal could
intimidate people are over. They know that when Gambians are alone in those
ballot boxes, they are going to overwhelmingly vote for the Opposition. No
question about that. Now, all the vermin are banking on is for Roberts to
help them steal the election. They will all fail.
Roberts should be taken to task. He is NOT a fair arbiter. He has a dog in
this fight. Just witness what happened during the nomination process. The
Opposition together took to the IEC more than double the votes Yaya took
there. UDP alone took there more than 8000 votes compared to Yaya’s 7000
(which they had to struggle real hard to get). As soon as Roberts saw what
was happening, the vermin was eager to be the spin-doctor of APRC. He
unashamedly morphed into an APRC mouthpiece. Roberts was overly eager to
point out that even though the Opposition took in more votes, that was not a
sign of APRC’s unpopularity in the country. Who asked the mental midget to
tell us who was popular or not in the country during this campaign season?
Roberts will do anything to steal the elections. It is up to the Opposition
to also do anything to ensure that Roberts fails. Reports coming from the
Revising Courts are also NOT encouraging. Baabaa Jobe and his thugs are
still intimidating magistrates to leave foreigners on the electoral lists.
Thanks again for your contributions. You raised very good points. I hope we
get coherent answers to your questions. As you said, ALL Opposition Parties
need to come together (at the very least) to tackle these issues that
negatively impacts the whole Opposition.
KB
>From: Malamin Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Election procedures: Question
>Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 15:29:35 +0000
>
>Goodmorning Members of the L,
>
>I have questions regarding electoral procedures in The Gambia. I am one of
>the uninformed when it comes to PIEC/IEC procedures so bear with me.
>
>
>1. Are partry officials allowed to accompany ballots to counting
> centers?
>
>2. Are International observers allowed to accompany ballots to
> counting centers?
>
>3. What are the procedures for counting ballots at the designated
> counting centers?
>
>4. What opportunities exist for Yahya to tamper with the ballot boxes
> in transit to counting centers?
>
>I hope the opposition parties, even thought are not united, can sit down
>and strategize ways to cover all potential holes that Yahya can use to
>tamper with the boxes being tranported. It should be obvious to the
>opposition parties that the ONLY way Yahya can poll 51% or more is by
>tampering with boxes in transit or counting centers. Lets be proactive
>about
>it before it actually happens. They should also watch out for July 22nd
>tugs
>in training. I will appreciate any assistance to enlighten me on the
>questions above.
>
>Regards,
>MJohnson
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
