The nation should be going to the polls on
6 April, which is less than four weeks from now, although the Coalition and its
political parties are still determining how to partake in the election.
However, a salient point raised by the IEC
Chair at the commission’s recent meeting with the security forces is that it is
determined to ensure that the upcoming elections are free and fair, as usual.
Several factors are always raised or
considered when it comes to free and fair elections.
These start with the integrity of the
electoral commission to ensure that a level playing field is there for all to
partake well, starting from the registration of visitors to the day of voting
or polling day. All these processes should be free and fair; in other words
corruption-free.
It is good to state that much of this was
observed by the IEC for the December 1, 2016 presidential election except for
the hitch that resulted from the transposition of the Basse votes, and
subsequently the final results, which were actually swiftly corrected.
It is expected that for the parliamentary
elections such grave error would be serious guarded against.
Meanwhile, the expressed determination to
ensure free and fair elections by the IEC is appeasing, and should be
encouraged and supported to ensure that our elections in The Gambia are never
found wanting.
Although we are aware of the type of person
our exiled former leader is, we can also say the ground for him to take
advantage of the situation was laid by the IEC, who made that grave mistake in
figures/results posting.
However, the Election, as stated by the IEC
Chair, is the business of all, so essentially all stakeholders and the
electorate are encouraged to fully partake in the parliamentary electoral
process, the latest stage of which is nomination of candidates, slated for
Thursday 9 through Sunday 12 March 2017. So, all are encouraged to partake in
the process to ensure free and fair elections at the end of the day.
And that is why we agree with the IEC Chair
in stating that: “The IEC continues to make the clarion call that election is
the business of all. In view of this, the commission wishes to fully
collaborate with all stakeholders in the electoral process.”
A free and fair election, we also note,
depends on freedom of speech, assembly, association and movement to ensure all
members of the electorate in the society participate in elections as enshrined
in sections 25 and 26 of the constitution.
Free and fair elections depends on a transparent
electoral process, impartial electoral commission, equitable electoral
legislation, equal opportunities for all participants, absence of intimidation,
application of the proper procedures and acceptance of electoral results, as
confirmed by the IEC Chair himself.
This, we believe, should be the order of the day as we proceed towards the polling day of the current Parliamentary electoral process.
“Our word must be our bond. ”
The Point
