STATEMENT BY PDOIS SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE WULI EAST BY ELECTION
1 May -6 May 2011
The result of the Wuli East by election of 28 April 2011 is now history. The lessons are being drawn. We have done our debriefing and we have taken note of all the editorials of newspapers and comments of people. Some like the National mobiliser of the APRC has concluded that the results are an example of what is to be in the 2011 Presidential elections.
Those who rely on figures and do not read the facts behind the figures argue in the same light that even if there is one opposition candidate in 2011, APRC victory in the next presidential elections is a foregone conclusion.
However, the facts behind the figures reveal that the power base of the APRC is disintegrating and withering away. A comparison between the results attained by the APRC in 2007 in the Wuli East National Assembly Elections with that of the 2011 by elections would reveal a decline of 1015 votes. In short, APRC had 3760 votes in 2007. This is reduced to 2745 votes in 2011.This is not a good sign for the APRC, especially if one considers that the seat was held by them for 9 years before it became vacant. On the other hand, we would like to allay the fears of those who claim that the result is an early warning signal to the opposition, that we in PDOIS are committed to the candidature of only one opposition candidate for the next presidential elections. PDOIS is very flexible. In fact the central Committee of PDOIS had the intension for the Wuli East seat to be contested under PDOIS but the selection Committee in Wuli observed that since the seat in Wuli West is a NADD seat it would be odd for the seat in Wuli East to be contested under a PDOIS umbrella. They proposed that we wait until the 2012 National Assembly elections to contest under a PDOIS ticket. We conceded to the recommendation. It goes without saying that we have been calling for all those who want change to hold a primary for party and non party candidates so that one among them could be selected as a compromise candidate through a primary and be supported by all those who want change. This is our policy. In our view, if all political leaders and Independent political aspirants were to call for a National rally only to declare that none is hungry for power and that each is ready to support anyone of them who is selected by the people to preside over a transitional government, one would have the assembling of the mightiest crowd that this country has ever known in its political history. PDOIS is ready for such a meeting at any time. People should therefore identify the real obstacle to unity and engage those who have no policy on how to ensure unity that could yield victory in 2011.
Notwithstanding, we have a duty to explain to the Gambian people how a Presidential campaign team of the APRC which deployed in Wuli against a National Assembly campaign team deployed by PDOIS/ NADD became so devastated during the campaign period that it had to employ the most shameless tactics that has lost them the electorate in Wuli East for good and caused the lowest voter turnout that Wuli East has ever known. I challenge the Mayor of KMC; the National Mobiliser of APRC; and the Governor of URR to a debate over the National Radio or TV or by writing in the Press if they disagree with any fact mentioned in this statement. In fact, we did not want to sound like we are bad losers. However, sovereign Gambians in Bajakunda and Wuli East in General asked us to tell the facts to the Gambian people in particular and the world in general how the APRC campaign team of URR Governor or ex Governor, Parliamentarians and Ministers created pandemonium at polling stations which attracted the PIU security apparatus which made voters to leave the queue and others not to turn up at all for fear of the outcome of the unprecedented and successful battle by Suwaibou Touray to prevent them from controlling the show as they have always been used to doing.
Luckily for us, prominent members of the NIA were around during the whole campaign. Some people often feel that PDOIS/ NADD are not considered a threat and we are not subjected to any pressures during elections. Let us take this opportunity to inform the General Public that we are subjected to the same pressures as all opposition parties. We have just learnt how to contain and frustrate the arrogance of the ruling party and make them hang their heads in shame rather than allow them to draw us into the politics of thugs.
Allow me to cite one example. The ruling APRC Campaign team left one of their vehicles behind that has suffered a break down until the PDOIS/NADD Campaign team found it on the scene. Our mechanics helped to repair the vehicle and provide it with oil. Before it left a PDOIS/ NADD vehicle which went to collect a member of the team and found the APRC holding a meeting was attacked and stoned as it left resulting in the breaking of the side glass window. The driver of the vehicle which was repaired could not understand this act that is characteristic of Thugs. We will take up the matter with the APRC Secretariat to get them to repair the vehicle; write an apology and make an undertaking never to allow any thugs to join their campaign teams. It goes without saying that on polling day the interference by the APRC Campaign team was so obnoxious that I had to dial the phone of the Chairman of the IEC and affix the mobile phone I used to call him to the one I used to call Suwaibou so that he could hear directly how an APRC National Assembly member was responding to Suwaibou´s Complaint of his unlawful presence at the polling station in Baja Kunda. Suwaibou who is a veteran PDOIS/ NADD political leader has already been trained that a candidate who cannot protect his or her votes from being stolen right before his or her own eyes is an accomplice of criminality. The only cause that a candidate is worth dying for is to protect the votes cast for him or her by the electorate. This is a fundamental PDOIS principle and is not negotiable. Suwaibou was therefore able to negate their presence but could not remedy the damage cause in keeping part of the electorate who would not have voted for the APRC anyway. I will further elaborate when it comes to the facts.
Now, allow us to proceed to the facts.
The Nature and Characteristics of the Campaign Team
The fleet of transports comprised utilised by the ruling APRC party include ADB 429, GAMTEL 18, SG79 Kanilai Farm Pick Up, 5 Pick Ups without number plates, 1A Forestry, BSAC transport, Pick Up with number plates covered by card board, ADR transport used by Attorney General, The Mayor had his transport, URR 1, URR 3, Transport by Minister of health. All these officials were accompanied by their security guards to give them an air of officialdom. The entourage is one that is required for a Presidential campaign. It comprises the National Mobiliser and Mayor of KMC, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, The Minister of Forestry, The Minister of Health, The National Assembly members for Upper Saloum, Tumana, Jimara, and Basse. The Governor URR, The Chairman Basse Area Council, The Paramount Chief and Chiefs from LRR and URR. The entourage traveled with high ranking law enforcement and security officers and was escorted by both armed and unarmed security personnel. The Voters in Wuli East did admit that they had never witnessed such intrusion of officials with high security presence in their constituency.
Despite the dozens of vehicles and officials at the service of the APRC campaign team they could not have the desired impact. People complained about the marginalization of Wuli East despite the fact that they have been voting for the party in both the Presidential, National Assembly and Council elections.
We had expected a landslide victory since the signs were evident that Suwaibou would retain the votes he used to get in the other villages and increase his votes in Baja Kunda which used to vote for the APRC but had turned their back to the party. I received a call indicating that some people had started to go into the Fula speaking communities to tell the elders that the APRC has given chance to Mandinka candidates and Sera Hule candidates and that it was now the turn of the Fula Speaking group. They were told that if they allowed their own son to fail they would have no one to blame for their marginalization which they were allegedly told would increase as taps are closed and other projects stopped. We strongly attribute the fall of Suwaibou’s vote from 2691 in 2007 to 1849 in 2011 to the failure of some Fula speaking voters to vote for him and were instead infected with ethno-linguistic prejudices. It is alleged that some took oath to support a person belonging to the same ethno linguistic group. This is one point to be noted. Allow me to move to the second point.
The second point which undermined Suwaibou´s results is the high security presence in Baja Kunda on polling day which was not fully explained to the people. I received a call from Suwaibou indicating that one of his polling agents left to answer the call of nature but was arrested by the security agent of the Governor and detained at a compound. He went to search for Muhammed Cham and found him with Mawdo Garre, an APRC stalwart. He Mawdo was confronted by Suwaibou and village women and he had to abandon his schemes. As Suwaibou accompanied the polling agent until he was seated the entourage of the APRC comprising Ministers and Members of the National Assembly came to the Baja Kunda polling station. I called Suwaibou and heard him telling the presiding officer that they did not have the mandate to be at the polling station. The IEC eventually intervened and more security reinforcement were brought to prevent any body from blocking the normal voting process and ensure that only the presiding officer, the clerks the polling agents and the security personnel under the IEC; the accredited monitors and the candidates are allowed at the stations.
Those who observed the queue saw people leaving when security enforcement increased. Others who went into the village also informed me that many voters simply said that voting was not worth such tense atmosphere in the village. The voting in Baja Kunda was therefore not free. The number of people who voted is a clear testimony of the impact of the tense atmosphere on the voters.
Part Three
Those who observed the queue saw people leaving when security enforcement increased. Others who went into the village also informed me that many voters simply said that voting was not worth such tense atmosphere in the village. The voting in Baja Kunda was therefore not free. The number of people who voted is a clear testimony of the impact of the tense atmosphere on the voters.
Baja Kunda had little less than 2800 registered voters.760 voters voted for the APRC candidate and 281 voters voted for the PDOIS/ NADD candidate. Over 1000 voters did not vote at all. This confirms that the tense atmosphere created by the entourage of a person who was reported to be a dismissed Governor comprising Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians and Chiefs guarded by security personnel who did their best not to serve as a tool of the APRC campaign team did contribute this time to voter apathy. This is the unique reality which compels me to issue this statement. Fair election is one characterised by the absence of any rigging. Free election is one which frees the voter in particular and the campaign team of the candidates from any form of inducement or intimidation. An election cannot be considered free if the degree of inducement or intimidation has overwhelming impact on the outcome of the results.
The APRC campaign team left no stone unturned in threatening to uproot the few drinking facilities in villages or halt plans to bring imaginary projects if the seat is lost. The Candidate and the member for Wuli West were not spared in their derogatory remarks. The APRC team even displayed violent tendencies against individual members of the PDOIS/NADD campaign team when they purposefully or accidentally strayed into their midst. The PDOIS campaign team however neutralisd the power drunken tendencies of the APRC campaign team without propagating senseless violence even though the PDOIS /NADD campaign team had more youth supporters on its campaign trail. This earned the PDOIS/ NADD team the respect of the decent members of the APRC campaign team who urged restraint and the love, respect and confidence of the people of Wuli East who could believe how the arrogance of the ruling party was neutralized without fights and arrests.
All Gambians know that it is customary for PDOIS to give front seat to any member of another political party who happens to attend our rallies. In our view we are constantly trying to get others to lend us their ears. On the contrary, the first incident between the APRC Campaign team and a youth occurred when Bolong Dibassy , an Agenda 2011 activists ferried a Journalist from the PDOIS/ NADD rally to cover the APRC rally. He was confronted by Modou Pika Jallow, a veteran of the July 22nd Movement regarding his presence. After heated exchanges and Bolong´s firm display of his resolve not to be intimidated the tension was neutralized and the APRC Campaign team volunteered to ferry the Journalist. Bolong left to join our campaign team and all the youths on our campaign trail were advised to keep away from the trail of the APRC campaign team.
The second incident did occur by accident. Our campaign team found the APRC team at Sare Bohum. They politely told them that they had exceeded their time and they complied and left for the next destination. A transport later left with one Bukary Danso to collect Pateh Baldeh from Kanape. When they met the APRC Campaign team in the village the driver was advised to stop on the other side of the main road while Danso walked towards the village to call pateh. Before he got to his destination some thugs from the APRC campaign team went to the transport to confront the driver who explained their mission. Others followed Danso and attacked him and a confrontation ensued. He managed to escape as others urged restraint. As our transport left the scene stones were thrown by the APRC thugs who broke the side window of the transport. Fortunately for us the APRC Campaign team had left a transport behind at Sare Bohum which suffered a breakdown. Instead of vandalizing their transport members of our campaign team helped to repair it and provided those left behind with oil for their engine. They left peacefully with prayers on their lips and the expression of pain for what had happened to our transport.
We want to make it abundantly clear to the people that it is not that PDOIS/ NADD has not been confronted with threats by APRC thugs during political campaign , on the contrary we still have a pending case in Sandu when a Chief broke a windscreen of our transport in 2007 campaign. I challenge the APRC leadership to issue a public notice to express denial and we would come up with all the facts.
History has proven that we have been functioning under the same political environment as other parties. The only difference is that we are capable of containing and neutralising the arrogance of the ruling party and shame them for their excesses. We have always refused for them to provoke us to develop enmity with our youths .We know how to educate the youths not to allow themselves to be used as Thugs as we could see in the aftermath of the Nigerian election.
Our campaign team had made it abundantly clear that those who do not possess voting cards cannot determine who will manage their affairs. It is the voting card which enables a person to say who would be the president of the country, the National Assembly member of a given constituency, The Mayor of a given municipality and the councilor of a given ward.
They explained the difference between the executive and the National Assembly. They explained that the President appoints cabinet Ministers who preside over the affairs of Ministries which formulate policies and manage budgets to provide service in the area of Health education, Agriculture, electricity, Telecommunication, water and so and so forth. The president handles the national coffers amounting to billions of Dalasis. He or She also receives loans, grants and gifts on behalf of the people. It is such policies which may increase or reduce poverty and enlarge or restrict liberty. They made it clear that the President won in Wuli as a Presidential Candidate and should therefore utilise Tax Payers money to extend development to Wuli. They added that the National Assembly is there to scrutinize the executive, highlight the problems of the people, recommend policy options, review complex bills before passing or rejecting them and analyse international agreements before their ratification. They made it very clear that if the people elect a candidate who cannot do these things they would only have a person who would sit there and will not be able to contribute much to the National Assembly. They argued that the national Assembly needs people who will scrutinize the executive and serve the people. They gave examples that to amend the provision of the constitution that are not entrenched or to make it possible for the amendment of an entrenched provision to be subjected to a referendum, the motion must be supported by three quarter of the members of the National Assembly. They argued that if they had 14 members of the National Assembly who are like Sidia Jatta, nobody would be talking about kingship since no motion would be supported by three quarter majority. They emphasised the importance of having independent minded National Assembly members rather than those who declare their subservience to the executive.
The Wuli East by election is now history. PDOIS / NADD was able to mobilise itself in just a matter of weeks to give the APRC the most difficult battle in its electoral history just few months before a Presidential election when they will not have the opportunity to concentrate in individual constituencies as they did in Wuli East.
Our conclusion is that they have got the seat by any means and we have gained moral authority to win the seat in any future engagement by telling the people the truth. We have shown that we can face up to the APRC on a one on one basis and give them sleepless nights to the point of sending the Governor packing as an election gimmick. We are therefore confident that with a combined opposition and a genuine agenda to move from ethno-linguistic and opportunistic tendency and unify our sovereign people to claim their sovereign birth right to be led by public servants will enhance their liberty and prosperity rather than public lords who would issue threats to them to accept their rule. This is the Challenge of 2011. Will we meet the Challenge or not? It is for the people to decide. History will be the record keeper and posterity will be the judge.
Halifa Sallah, PDOIS Secretary-GeneralSTATEMENT BY PDOIS SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE WULI EAST BY ELECTION
