Gambia L, As our country prepares for Parliamentary and Presidential elections, it is very important that all of us be aware of potential snags which can bog down the entire election process into shambles. By now some of us may have already sensed a conspiracy in the recent declaration by the chairman of the IEC Mr. Gabriel Roberts, that due to security concerns they can't honor their promise of On the spot counting of votes. I do not think that claim holds much water. The premise was allegedly based on the theory of violence by party supporters. Hello, Mr. Roberts who are the real perpetrators of violence? We should all have known that by now, haven't We? The APRC leadership preach peace daily whilst they don't show political tolerance for their adversaries. Look at what happened in Baddibou when the opposition party retained that seat, few days later the elected NAM member's uncle was fired as the village Alkalo and we haven't heard incidence of violence from Kiang where the opposition failed to reclaim the seat. A nation should be governed by laws but since there is a breakdown of law and order in the Gambia where checks and balances which were in the books are being assaulted day by day mostly by Judges who will stop at nothing in suppressing justice to save their own skins. For the mere fact that Yaya Jammeh is a stake holder in the election should not have given any advice to the IEC as clearly stated by the IEC chairman. If there is fair justice in the courts of the Gambia, this is a case for conflict of interest. Mr. Roberts, if I were you, I would have resigned and protect my integrity rather than be used like an Instrument of Fraud.You should think about how history will judge you in your own country. You aided and abetted in the stealing of last election after which you were fired and now the government in the face of an impending political death has once again recalled you to steal for them. One mind boggling question I must ask Mr. Roberts is: Will there be a total electricity blackout in the Gambia on election night or not? If you can answerthat specific question with absolute certainty then perhaps, just perhaps wemay have some slight chance of accepting your premise but if you can't answer this question, you should revisit your idea of counting at District headquarters as opposed to polling stations. This government must never be trusted in transportation of ballot boxes on the cover of darkness. There are very high chances that they could tamper with these ballots either enroute or at counting sites. There is one scenario which must be taken seriously and that is the possibility of total blackout in the Gambia at the times of counting at various centres across the country, therefore I think it will be a good idea if members of this forum who are opposition symphatisers could use some of the contributions collected in the purchasing of LANTERNS for standby use at counting centres should we be faced by that problem.This suggestion will be contingent upon the IEC's refusal to a change of decision on the matter. Lastly, but not the least is the declaration by Yaya of the repealing of Decree 89.We welcome it but let us celebrate yet because there are other issues to be dealt with such as opening polls to international observers and release of all political prisoners.I hope this initiative will be followed by more political tolerance by the government. Thanks, Mori Kebba Jammeh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------