Written by Pa Malick Faye Monday, 05 June 2006 APRC bigwigs, Yankuba Touray, Secretary of State for Agriculture and APRC national mobiliser, and Hon Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay, have reacted coolly to the decision of the Independent Electoral Commission to bring forward the presidential election to September, instead of the original October date. In an interview with the Daily Observer, SoS Touray said the APRC is ready to take part in any election that is in conformity with the laws of The Gambia as it has always been an obedient partner in the country's body politic. According to him, the APRC will cooperate fully with the IEC(Independent Electoral Commission) and conduct its politics in the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between political parties in the country. He predicted a landslide victory for President Jammeh and the APRC. "We will achieve it [a landslide] because of our strategies." On whether holding election in September will not affect the farming community as it falls in the rainy season and farmers form majority of the voting population, SoS Touray replied: "The IEC must have done their homework before coming up with the date. I don't think it will be a problem, as in 1996 election was done at the same time." For her part, Mrs Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, a nominated member of the National Assembly, echoed SoS Touray's remarks. According to her, the IEC has acted constitutionally, as Section 46 part 3 of the Constitution gives the IEC the power to do so. "We all know that October will fall in the Muslims' Holy Month of Ramadan and The Gambia being a predominantly Muslim country, it will be difficult to hold an election in the Ramadan," she said. FJC, who sounds upbeat, said President Jammeh is marketable to the Gambian electorate, as he has fulfilled most of his promises to the electorate. "There will be no foul play and all the players should accept the outcome of the election. This is a simple fight, as the ant cannot stop the elephant from passing," she emphasised. いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい 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] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい