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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2011 : 00:22:58
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Whats the way forward now that the elction is over? The only option open to the opposition is to file a petion but their acceptance or rejection of the election without a petion filed has no impact once the results are certified by the IEC.
Your thoughts please.
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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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Momodou
Denmark
11645 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2011 : 19:09:22
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Electoral reform is necessary so that there is some form of level playing field for all. Any incumbent will continue to win as long as the present system is in place so the opposition needs to spend the next 2-3 years challenging the electoral system in local, regional and international courts.
Civil servants and state resources should definitely not be used for election campaign.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 29 Nov 2011 : 20:24:40
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I seem to have a few questions. Firstly, since the opposition believed the process was flawed because there were many irregularities, why did they not cry foul before making themselves candidates?
Secondly, i want to ask that since the Polling Agents of each party at each polling station certify the count at each location, and i want to believe it is the sum of these totals that made up the national aggregate. Were the agents forced to certify the counts under duress?
Thirdly, does the IEC provide each a copy of the signed copies for each Polling Agent so that their individual parties can do their own additions?
Fourthly, did the polling agents for each party not escort the sealed drums to the counting centers?
When the drums arrived at the centers, did the drums go through some rooms where no one was allowed to enter before the drums are made available in the counting rooms? In other words, are the party agents constantly with the drums from the polling stations to the counting rooms? Have there been instances, where drums arriving at counting centers were left unattended in the court yards.
Has there been enough lighting at these centers such that the drums are conspicuous to all and sundry?
Were there any incidents of more people voting at a location than the number of registered voters on the roll in that administrative area?
Were there any incidents of people showing up with voter’s cards whose names are not on the electoral register?
Have the names of the registered voters been displayed in public squares of the respective units to allow citizens to verify names and the opportunity to deregister any one they think is incompetent or unqualified in some way to vote? If there have been any, are the numbers sizeable?
Have there been instances of seals been tampered at the time of counting the votes?
Did the opposition have the man power to have enough agents being present at each polling station? It appeared that there were more than 1000 polling stations across the country. If there have been instances where some parties had no agents at a polling station, what is IEC's procedure in such situations to ensure that there is no collusion?
How is the counting done? Is it the IEC official who does the counting? If that is the case, does IEC have more than one counting officer at each station all counting at the same time?
Have there been instances of foreign objects found in sealed drums that were not initially in those drums when they were sealed in the presence of all? If so, how large were the incidents? Did any party official asked questions as to how those objects got there in the sealed drums in the first place?
How does one get a Voters card? A birth certificate is not proof of citizenship. It’s just a proof of birth.
Does each party know the last serial number of the last voter’s card issued by the IEC to ensure that no new cards were printed and issued after the registration process?
Does each party have the means to ensure that serial numbers are not duplicated in other constituencies? When citizen shows up to vote, does the verification of the person involve accessing a database or is this off a printed document?
Does the IEC provide a complete list of all citizens on the electoral register to all Party candidates?
On the print out of the list of voters, does this print out also show date of birth of the registered voter?
Who is a citizen of the Gambia? Is the IEC able to know that the person appearing before them is truly a citizen per constitutional requirements? Then again, am reminded that, that is an immigration issue. So the right question is, how is a National ID Card obtained? Is the process thorough?
What do i know? Any takes? I guess am just a dim-wit.
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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 30 Nov 2011 : 17:20:25
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Another question. How are international observers selected? Do these officials get country situation reports long before they arrive? It appears some arrived less than five days before elections. Are they qualified to make a true statement of the process? I learnt in school that a consultant is anyone who borrows your watch and tells you the time.
If ECOWAS does not recognize the process as fair and member states of ECOWAS are also members of the AU, is there no conflict here? Do we expect heads of states of ECOWAS countries to send congratulatory messages to the incumbent? If they do, how does that affect the ECOWAS statement on the election?
If the ECOWAS member states don’t recognize the process as fair, in legal terms, can they enter into agreements with Gambia? Will those agreements be binding given the fact that they do not recognize the elections as free and fair? There are many legal issues involved here? I hope someone can help me understand and find answers to my questions.
Another question is, if a country is member of an organization and the organization makes a statement, are member countries bound by those statements? IF that’s the case, then it means ECOWAS member states are bound by the decision of the body with potential legal issues in areas of collaboration, technical assistance, Interpol etc. If they are not bound by the stance of the international organization they are members of, why join the organization in the first place?
It appears that the AU spokesman is a Nigerian and he is from an ECOWAS country which body is not in agreement with the decisions of the AU he represented. Can’t you see some serious conflicts here? Its more like hunting with hounds and running with the hares at the same time.
Hay forget it. Don’t mind me.
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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 01 Dec 2011 : 23:02:37
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Ok i can understand that the mood is diferent these days. But in a democracy, you cannot be a seasonal politician. Keep moving. Learn from the past and prepare for the future |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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Momodou
Denmark
11645 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2011 : 08:25:48
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"Everybody wants to go to heaven but none of them, none of them want to die" - Peter Tosh
Even toubab1020 is gone on political holidays these days. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2011 : 16:47:38
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It so looks like it. Thats why i like Abraham Lincoln. he ran for virtually every office and lost but never gave up. Eventually he became president.
So run if you can; walk if thats what you can; trudge on if you can; crawl if thats what you can; roll if thats what you can; blink your eyes if thats all you can; and if everything fails think; just keep thinking. You must never stop doing anything. Even in dying because "gradualism, leads to standstillsm, which leads to doing nothingsm". There is a reason why God brought us here and sadly, we all came with a one way ticket to death.
There are no second chances in life. Chance lost is never regained. Time lost is never regained. Birthday celebrated never comes again. So think if thats all you can do. Think of anything for that matter but atleast be doing something worthwhile. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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sankalanka
270 Posts |
Posted - 03 Dec 2011 : 15:11:32
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Although the desire of the overall majority of the opposition political supporters, were to see the candidature of one opposition presidential candidate, what transpired between the opposition political parties, nothwithstanding the fact that the opposition political supporters were dissappointed, should be celebrated as an exercise in democracy. That people have the right to agree or disagree. That people have the right to associate or not to associate with others, who they may or may not share the same interest persuasions. The debate was intense. There was acrimony and bad blood between those supporting the different contending views and parties, but overall the exercise was healthy and we could learn from it going forward. The presidential elections had now elapsed. The incumbent had been returned to power, although the opposition political parties are yet to concede defeat. How this would play out in the coming weeks and months is a matter of conjecture. The Gambia's political difficulties are structural; they are endemic. Given an entrenched political culture and political goodwill, it is a very daunting prospect for an opposition party or an alliance of opposition political parties to unseat the incumbent president. It has never happened in the 30 years plus that Sir Dawda Jawara was preisident, and it was a guarded optimism in the build up to this presidential elections that it could happen. The entrenched political culture and political goodwill that has allowed president Jawara to win every election cycle for more than 30 years, is the same entrenched political culture and political goodwill that has allowed this current president to win every election cycle. It has been inherited and transferrred from one presidency to the other. If president Jawara was not overthrown, and he had not voluntarily relinguished power, he would have been winning elections to this date. This is the reality of the Gambian political situation. The only person who can change this political reality would be the person who occupies the office of the presidency. The person who embodies the will of the people, given in a free and fair elections, and derives that authority as the legitimate basis to form and run a government. We always have a tendency to argue on behalf of the people. The Gambian people want this; the Gambian people want that. However, our society is governed by diverse interest, and there is always a conflict between what one Gambian wants and what another Gambian wants. Hence we have group affiliations. And we have strong affinities, and develop strong loyalties to these groupings. And in any conflict situation between our various groups, we always appeal to others who share our own interest persuasions. This to a large extend always dictates where we stand on the issues. We all have our own biases. If one should make an analysis of the voting pattern of the Gambian electorate from 1996 to date, it would be difficult to sustain our conviction that the majority of the Gambian population embrace our idea of change. Or what should constitute change for that matter. Our political dynamics, therefore, needs to be struturally adjusted to inform and articulate a representation that mirrors the true hopes and aspirations of the people. To this end, there is the need to deliberate a new vision of constructive engagement. To engage, to negotiate and to reconcile.
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