By Tabora Bojang
Two months after the governing National People’s Party majority caucus voted down the law which allows Gambians abroad to be registered for voting in their countries of residence, Majority leader Billay Tunkara yesterday explained that the NPP and its allies in the National Assembly will not give support to any diaspora voting process that does not cover every Gambian living in the diaspora.
The law, Clause 14 of the Election Bill, suffered a setback after 25 lawmakers entirely from the NPP and its ally NRP as well as nominated and independent members voted against it, incurring the wrath of many Gambians abroad.
During Monday’s adjournment debate, a number of lawmakers revisited the matter lashing out at the government for not respecting the diaspora despite its immense contribution to national development.
Responding to these concerns, Tunkara said the NPP and and its allies are not against diaspora voting, but the modalities highlighted. “We have been served a sample of just 12 countries in the diaspora to start with but we are insisting on the fulfillment of Section 27 which states that every Gambian shall have the right to vote and be voted for and if we are to fulfill that, then we cannot cherry pick,” Hon Tunkara argued.
He said their position is that every Gambian living outside should be given the franchise and not just a few.
Hon Tunkara rejected accusations that the NPP opposed the rule for political reasons knowing that it is not popular among Gambians abroad. “Our rejection was based on principle, not political reasons. In fact I think we have more supporters in the diaspora than all parties. We just want equality,” he reasoned.
