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ELECTION COUNTDOWM: Gambians Clamour for Changes in the Electoral System
africa » gambia
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
As Gambians gear up for the presidential elections in about three months’ time and the National Assembly elections in January, no one expects any dramatic changes to the country’s electoral system in the run-up to the elections or even any time in the foreseeable future.
But it is certainly one of the things, among several other changes that the Gambian opposition and indeed most Gambians are clamouring for, particularly with regards to the National Assembly elections.
The Gambia at present has the ‘first past the post’ electoral system in which a candidate can still win elections with less than 50 per cent of the vote, thus representing his or her constituency with a minority of the vote.
Also, a party can obtain a large portion of the votes cast and still get a disproportionate number of seats in parliament.
Therefore, this system is anything but democratic and fair and it is therefore quite imperative that we adopt a much fairer system of elections which gives more value to the votes cast by the electorate.
For instance, in the National Assembly elections in January 2007, the opposition together polled about 40 per cent of the popular vote, and yet, they only managed to get five seats out of the 48 elective seats of the National Assembly, which is less than 10 per cent.
Therefore, if there had been proportional representation in place, there would have been much more opposition seats in the National Assembly.
Another aspect which makes the Gambia’s electoral system quite archaic is no doubt the use of marbles. While we can understand the rationale for using those marbles instead of ballot papers at the very beginning of the electoral process, because of the extremely low literacy rate of the electorate as well as the fact that the people were not familiar with elections, but such a justification no longer holds water.
Apart from the dramatic increase in the literacy rate, Gambian voters are now quite familiar with elections and as such, there is no justification for continuing to hang on to such an old-fashioned system of voting, which is much more prone to abuse than any system being used anywhere else.
If countries with far lower literacy rates like Guinea Bissau, for instance, can successfully adopt the ballot paper system and hold far much freer and fairer elections than the Gambia, then it is hard to see why this country should still hang on to such an archaic system.
However, it appears that the present system is serving the APRC very well and as such; the regime is very unlikely to ever want to see it changed. Those in power seem to be more concerned about maintaining their advantageous position than putting in place a fairer system of elections. Of course, the very fact that they repealed the constitutional clause which called for a second round of voting in the presidential elections if any candidate fails to get more than 50 per cent in the first round was no doubt part of their scheme to consolidate their grip on power at whatever cost.
Therefore, while all those interested in free and fair elections are clamouring for change in the electoral system, but it is foolhardy for anyone to expect that this regime will ever contemplate such changes when the status quo seems to be serving them perfectly well.
It is a similar case with the persistent failure to extend the franchise to Gambians in the Diaspora, despite overwhelming clamour for it. It is indeed quite hard to imagine any justification why Gambians abroad could still not vote when countries with weaker economies such as Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry, as well as other less endowed countries, can extend the vote to their citizens all over the world.
Of course, it is quite obvious that such a failure to extend the vote to Gambians in the Diaspora is more political than economic. It is a well known fact that the regime is convinced that a majority of Gambians in the Diaspora would not vote for the APRC and therefore, with the iron-grip control that President Jammeh seems to have on the IEC, it is hard to imagine the IEC ever mustering the courage to implement such a wish of so many Gambians when they know quite well that President Jammeh is not in favour of it.
It is indeed quite unfair to deny the vote to such an economically important group like Gambians in the Diaspora. It is a well known fact that they contribute quite significantly to national development through their remittances and other financial contributions.
Therefore, it is unfair for them to make such significant contributions to the development of the nation and yet they are denied the opportunity to decide how they nation is governed.
ENDS
Author: With D.A Jawo
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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