Hamat Bah speaks

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Hamat Bah speaks

Saturday, 26 November 2011 20:48

(JollofNews) - The independent candidate fielded by the United Front in Gambia’s November 24 presidential election has criticised the Independent Electoral Commission for not ensuring a level playing field between the ruling party and the opposition.
In a preliminary statement issued this morning, Hamat Bah said the 11 days campaign period allocated by the electoral commission has grossly disadvantaged the opposition parties after being deprived of access to the media for a period of four years prior to the campaign period.
UNITED_FRONT_FLAGBEARE_Hamat_Bah

He added that opposition parties did not have access to state resources and were unable to thoroughly cover all constituencies as well as mobilise sufficient resources within the limited time frame to conduct a proper campaign.

Below is the full text of Mr Bah’s statement.

On Friday 25th November 2011, the Independent Electoral Commission declared the final results of the 2011 Presidential Elections. The Independent Candidate has 73.060 votes.

A meeting was scheduled after the declaration of the results to review the figures and issue a statement but the meeting had to be delayed because of the late arrival of Honourable Henry Gomez who later explained that he boarded a taxi to come to the meeting only to have the movement of the vehicle blocked by another transport with Gambia Revenue Authority inscribed on the door. Four persons came to indicate to him that he was under arrest and compelled him to join their vehicle. They refused to reveal their identity but later proposed for him to talk to their boss who also did not reveal his identity. The boss apologised and rationalised that it was a case of mistaken identity.

This incident which took place just before the meeting to determine whether or not to accept the results of 2011 Presidential Elections is rather instructive. The United Front strongly condemns this threat to the security of the leader of a member party and will approach the Inspector General of Police to provide security to both Hon Bah and Hon Gomez.

The United Front has seen the need for lessons to be drawn from the results of the elections.

The existence of the front is a reflection of the absence of the second round of voting which enables all parties to participate in the first round to check their political weight. The Front therefore strongly recommends for constitutional reform to be instituted to restore the second round of voting in presidential elections.

Another fundamental lesson is that the 11 days allocated by the IEC as campaign period has grossly disadvantaged the opposition parties after being deprived of access to the media for a period of four years prior to the campaign period. The opposition parties do not have access to state resources. We could not thoroughly cover any constituency and could not mobilise sufficient resources within the limited time frame to conduct a proper campaign.

Secondly, the APRC has been given an edge by the support it receives from the business community and public enterprises to ensure the provision of T-shirts, billboards and other accessories that serve as campaign materials.

The involvement of APRC mobilisers in community sensitisation meetings conducted by public enterprises helps to sustain the grass-roots organisations of the party. Suffice it to say that the utilization of the material resources of the state, especially vehicles and the involvement of chiefs who are heads of district tribunals, governors and other public servants or members of the security forces do not provide a level ground for holding free and fair elections.

In this light, it is the candid view of the Independent candidate and members of the United Front that we should propose the holding of a National Conference on the electoral system so that reforms could be initiated to ensure that there is level ground to hold genuine multi party contest and free and fair elections.

A final statement will be issued after debriefing the regional coordinators.
Written by PK Jarju

Comments

+5 #15 2011-11-28 17:32

All the shoplifters want Darboe to loose, that is the simple fact!

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+2 #14 2011-11-28 16:30

Great Article about Jammeh

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111126113323879956.html

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-1 #13 2011-11-28 15:36

Biram, Hamat Bah does not remember what he had for dinner the night before.

11 days is not enough, no access to media, etc, etc...are these really new.

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+5 #12 2011-11-27 22:05

THOMAS SANKARA SAID A soldier without political knowledge is a virtual criminal."
Yahya Jammeh is a virtual Criminal

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+2 #11 2011-11-27 19:26

Mostly African soldiers, they tend to be too dictatorrial, powerful and buse power, instead of protecting citizens Africans kill and humiliate their own people and give zero tolerance to opposition and criticisms..These are humans right and until they are rendered to those who deserved them, Gambians will not know peace of mind, the country will be peaceful but some citizens will not enjoy peace of mind and will live psychological trauma. All their live since there's no atmosphere to criticise how they are governed and above all, we will never be able to change western perception of Africa, killing each other everyday and its true that's what we do.

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+3 #10 2011-11-27 19:16

Elections will never be free and fair as long as Gambia is ruled by the military forces. A soldier is always trained how to kill, opperess, undermine peoples right, intimidate them, put fear in folks, deny citizens of access to government machineries like media, and weaken the country's foreign relationship with other countries..Secondly, oppositions like these sselfish jerks that we have, We will never live our dream..But I have no doubt sweet Smilling Coast will once again Smile with Diamond teeths sooner or later..Love you The Gambia...

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+8 #9 2011-11-27 12:56

I definitely cannot understand where Hamat Bah stands. It has been documented that he criticised ECOWAS for not observing the elections for not being free and fair... And now he his sating that the elections were not fair. I only hope that there is no hidden agenda to all these - to undermine possible efforts to take Yahya Jammeh's illegitimate regime to task for the fraudulent elections. if that is the case they (United Front) need to be very careful about that!

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-4 #8 2011-11-27 11:39

exactly this is what is expected from responsible politicians to summon it there was no conducive atmosphere for elections
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+1 #7 2011-11-27 09:30

Yes the IEC might get it’s share of blame but to me the major one is them the opposition, how they presented themselves at the last hour. This was completely destructive and humiliating and gave no trust to the opposition supporters that this again created factions among them, forcing others to either stay away or join the APRC. For one to have confidence on you, he/she must read how you present yourself. You must be able to convince that you stand to be the right person at the right place.

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