Nominations started since last Saturday and a number of aspiring candidates have submitted their papers at the IEC for endorsement. The ball has been set and Gambian voters will again return to the polls on April 9th 2022 to exercise their franchise.
We note that the upcoming election is very crucial. Therefore, electing competent people would only empower, cement and strengthen our fragile democracy.
Lawmakers are responsible for passing bills so that they could become laws of the land. They also have the powers to ratify both local and international agreements.
And dealing with nations requires both a sound and careful approach; pass bills that would have dire consequences on the people they represent. There are some agreements, which if not carefully scrutinised could compromise the sovereignty of a country.
Meanwhile, The Gambia today has witnessed the transition from virtually the NA dominated by one-political party to a more pluralised Assembly with multi party representation.
The former government that ruled the country for 22 years terrorised, tortured and imprisoned her citizens, thanks to the laws passed by the parliament, making it easy to commit such brutal acts. Those so-called ‘rubber-stamp lawmakers’ have no place in our modern democracy; they are enemies of progress.
In most cases, they are only particular about their per-diems and monthly take home.
Therefore, voting in this parliamentary election is important indeed.
Let’s remember that parliament deals with passing of laws and these laws should prohibit and prevent practices and behaviours harmful to self and the community.
They should also protect and promote practices that are conducive to self and community development.
However, as we saw in the past, where some lawmakers would vote where the majority lies. They’ve not contributed anything positive and tangible in addressing the plight of the very people, who voted them into such offices.
Therefore, it is high time voters make informed- decisions on how to go about as April looms ever-closer.
Voters should always be careful of opportunists seeking for office. These are the type of people who would frequent their constituencies only to bribe or seek favors from certain opinion leaders to make it easy to vie for such post. Some of these opportunists in most cases hardly or only visit their constituencies once in a blue moon.
Remember that ‘your vote is your power’, so vote wisely.