He claimed that they are ready to go to prison and that his party would not legitimise any election where non-Gambians voted.
“If we have non-Gambians coming outside the country and are lodged in public places, we are going to categorically say they are non-Gambians. Therefore, the issue will be left for whoever brought them in the country to prove that they are Gambians. If those people are permitted to vote, then the prison will be full because we wouldn’t recognise that government and any law made under or by that government. That’s the position of the GMC.”
Mai Fatty, a onetime Interior minister was speaking on Thursday at his residence in Kotu during a maiden breakfast with editors of Gambian media.
The convergence, GMC leader said was meant to have an interface with editors of different media houses in the country with a view to discussing issues of national development with them.
The position of the Inter Party Committee (IPC), he said, is very clear with regard to the issue of attestation. “In fact, there is no political party at the IPC that supports the issue of attestation. Besides; if there should be attestation, then there must be some conditions.”
Such a condition, he added, will go a long way to help sanitise it like the issue of Seyfo certificate. It has to be a village head supported by a compound head because everyone knows each other in the village.
“As oppositions, we have limits. We have expressed our concerns but the legislature calendar is not controlled by us but controlled by the state and it’s the state that decides what goes to parliament or not.”
The best way we can put an end to non-Gambians voting in our elections, he continues, is for all Gambians, particularly opposition parties to be vigilant and partner in making sure that the registration process goes fairly.
“We must monitor what goes into the register and also get our supporters to watch out who comes in and who goes out. If our Diasporas are not allowed to vote, then we should not allow any other citizen outside The Gambia to vote. If you allow Gambian outside the country to vote, then you should allow others also to come and vote otherwise its discrimination.”
He further claimed: “One way to end this is to also close the borders a week or few days before election or even the election day. There must be a mechanism whereby we would stop non-Gambians from coming to The Gambia to vote across the border. I am confident that just like the past, buses would be ferrying people to come and vote and they would be non-Gambians and they will be housing them in schools just like Yahya Jammeh used to do to because they have no affiliation in this country.”
The country’s security situation, he said, is very deplorable. “The value of life diminishes every day in this country. Everyday somebody is killed in a corner. In fact, it is no longer news in the country. When we were younger, when someone died in Koina, the whole country would be so shocked. However, it’s no longer shocking news now. The fundamental obligation of the state is to maintain law and order which is not happening now.”
“The state is not according the citizens the due they deserve in terms of protecting them and their properties and that’s why peace can’t be sustained. There’s no way this country can be safe if we continue in the same political situation in this country. It’s necessary for us to have new parameters in terms of security. We must change the entire government infrastructure, the governance and architecture of this country,” he said.
