By Omar Bah
Darboe warns ‘bogus voters’ The United Democratic Party leader, Ousainu Darboe has advised “all illegally registered voters” to refrain from voting in next month’s National Assembly elections. The UDP leader issued this warning Friday at a news conference called to expose alleged electoral fraud by the NPP and the Independent Electoral Commission.
Emphasising his point to journalists, Darboe said: “All those who have been registered outside the registration period should refrain from going to the polls. In fact, we will take further steps to name and shame them by publishing their photographs, voter cards and numbers,” Darboe warned.
Asked whether it will not be “unethical” to display peoples’ voter cards, Darboe said: “I don’t know what will be unethical about exposing fraud. I need to be told by moralists or by people who really are conversant with ethics and ethical conduct because for me, even if Mr Almami Taal of UDP is involved, I don’t see any reason why he should not be exposed,” he said,
He argued that exposing such things will send “a signal to others so that in the future they will not attempt to get into anything criminal just to acquire a voter card.
“So, all those who registered especially in Kulari outside of the registration period conspired with the IEC to commit a crime. There is nothing like allegations about what I am saying because all I am saying I based it on their own documents so it is real and if they deny it let them come out and say the documents we have are not correct because after all, some of them are signed by the IEC Chairman himself,” Darboe said.
Tribal bigotry
Darboe said: “The amount of tribal bigotry demonstrated in the run up to last December’s presidential election has never been seen in the history of this country. The election was a census of ethnic groups and this government is responsible for all that. They are bringing tribes to lock heads and made them underrate each other,” Darboe said.
“For example, how is it possible that in some areas of URR with sitting UDP NAMs, yet their party leader Ousainu Darboe could only get 15 votes. Clearly, only tribalism explains that. And then you go to some other places and realise that what Ousainu Darboe gets there clearly demonstrated that this country has been destroyed,” the UDP leader lamented.
He said the same thing was demonstrated in Mandinka -dominated areas like Massembeh in Kiang. “I had more votes there because Mandinkas are many there but that should not happen and I should not also lose in Fula dominated Sibito just because I am a Mandinka and likewise Essa Faal should not lose in Massembeh just because he is Wollof,” Darboe lamented.
NA elections
On the National Assembly elections, Mr Darboe said the UDP is preparing candidates and the party will not let the National Assembly be hijacked by the NPP because “if we do that, we will be doing a great disservice to the Gambian people. After all, when we have like- minded people in the assembly and form the majority, this issue of the register can be dealt with. I will throw the idea at them so that the register can be sanitised. So the UDP will be filling more candidates than any other political party in this country,” he said. voting in assembly elections
