Folks, The reaction to the result of the by-elections held in Kiang and Badibu by some people on the L really frightens me. In kiang the voter turnout was 86.07 % while in Badibu the turnout was 71.40%. For any by-election or election for that matter are these turnouts unreasonable? In Kiang, 64.29 % of voters who voted, voted for Mahawa Cham while 35.75 % voted for Bakary Jarju. In Badibu, 51.44 % of those who voted voted for Lamin Dibba while 48.56 % voted for Sekou Satou Saho. Human rights activist, Sheik Lewis and Joseph Peacock, youth activist are both quoted by the Daily Observer reporters A.B ceesay and Sheriff Bojang Jr as describing the elections as "free, fair and transparent". If these by-elections were meant for the people of Kiang and Badibu to demonstrate their faith or lack of it in the APRC government, they have amply demostrated it. It is therefore very rediculous and absurd for any one to inteprete these results in any other way than an expression of the wishes of the people. How can anyone just dismiss the wish of the people as if they didn't know what they were doing when they were alone facing only 2 ballot boxes. If it is true democracy is what we are all yearning for, then this must be a step in the right direction. Any body who feels that the people are still not aware of their own plight or what they wanted this fateful saturday, then that person has a serious problem. These by-elections may have been contested on a partisan basis, but don't forget that the people were actually choosing between two people in each of these constituencies to REPRESENT them. I would to end this post by quoting one Lamin Saho who, writing on the Daily Observer last year about a week before the student riots of April 2000, wrote "... whatever happens, whatever the circumstances, we must not allow our emotions to run riot with us making us arrive at wild and imaginary conclusions that question the very basis of our intellectual capability and enlightenement". This he wrote cautioning reporters not to sentionalise sensitive issues just to sell their papers. Bye 4Now, KB Jobe. ========================================================== "There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve" (MIKE LEAVITT) =========================================================== _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail 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 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------