THE GAMBIA: DAS THOMAS-GREENFIELD DISCUSSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000423

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL AU GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: DAS THOMAS-GREENFIELD DISCUSSES
ELECTION ISSUES

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Classified By: P/E OFF SCHWEFLER, REASON 1.4 (B&D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. On the first day of her visit to The Gambia
to attend the African Union (AU) Summit, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield had the

SIPDIS
opportunity to meet with several opposition leaders and a
former election official to discuss prospects for the
upcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections. The
opposition leaders provided detailed complaints about what
they perceive as flagrant and large-scale ruling party and
government tampering with the ongoing voter registration
exercise. There was less agreement among the attendees on a
second topic addressed, causes for the collapse of the
opposition's alliance. Embassy will continue to press the
GOTG to ensure a free and fair election process. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On 30 June, DAS Thomas-Greenfield held a series of
meetings with several Gambian opposition politicians as well
as Anglican Bishop and former Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC) Chairman Tilewa Johnson. In separate
meetings, she discussed prospects for the upcoming National
Assembly and Presidential elections with opposition National
Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) Presidential
Candidate Halifa Sallah and members of the NADD Executive
Committee; and, opposition United Democratic Party (UDP)
Presidential Candidate Ousainou Darboe and his running mate
from the National Reconciliation Party (NRP),Hamat Bah.

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VOTER REGISTRATION PROBLEMS
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3. (C) The Gambia is holding two major elections in the next
six months, the Presidential election scheduled for September
22, and the National Assembly elections scheduled for January

2007. The supplemental voter registration is in progress,
and in most of her meetings DAS heard similar detailed
descriptions of flagrant abuses in the registration process,
including election officials, registration of non-Gambians
and minors in connivance with the ruling Alliance for
Patriotic Reorientation and Constructions (APRC). In The
Gambia it is possible to receive a National Identity Card,
which allows one to register to vote, by presenting to the
Immigration Department a birth certificate or a written
attestation of citizenship by a Chief or five village elders.
In their meetings with DAS Thomas-Greenfield, the opposition
leaders described scenes where five elders sit at a table
issuing attestations for groups of foreigners organized by
APRC officials. These attestations are submitted for
Identification Cards, which, in turn can be presented to the
IEC for a voter registration card.


4. (C) When asked if they had voiced their concerns to the
IEC, Darboe and Sallah responded in the affirmative, but
expressed little faith that IEC Chairman Njie would take
corrective measures to address or prevent the problem.
Sallah reported that he has direct access to the Chair, and
gave his opinion that the abuses have become so flagrant that
they can no longer be ignored. He reported that the IEC
staff has become demoralized, as they know they are involved
in "filthy work." NOTE: Registration abuses have received
attention in the two operating independent newspapers, The
Point and Foroyaa. Embassy contacts have also reported many
instances of non-Gambians and minors as young as ten being
encouraged to register for National Identity Cards and,
subsequently, voter cards. When asked about the allegations
at an Embassy reception, the Director General of Immigration
dismissed them as "nonsense." END NOTE.


5. (C) In his meeting with the DAS, Bishop Johnson expressed
his opinion that The Gambia has a strong legal foundation for
running clean elections. He was very proud of the Gambia's
simple but secure voting method of placing a marble in a
colored drum, and also explained that the IEC is empowered to
investigate and deny registrants who appear fraudulent, which
he says happened frequently under his tenure. The opposition
candidates shared his opinion that there are sufficient
anti-fraud procedures in place, but that they are being
ignored. They explained that the current Chair, in conflict
with the election &code of conduct8 MOU signed in February
2006 by the ruling and opposition parties, is not using a
supplemental registration form that was used in the past to
help verify a voter's eligibility. The opposition leaders
report that the IEC Chair has been calling monthly
inter-party meetings to address issues of concern, but that
the APRC has not attended the last two meetings. All of the
opposition leaders expressed their intention to participate
in the election, and in the case of Darboe and Bah, their
conviction that they will win if provided a level playing
field. However, but they all voiced their doubts that the
upcoming elections will be free and fair unless the current

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trend is reversed.

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A FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION
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6. (SBU) The Gambia has several opposition parties and,
facing changes to the Constitution that allowed elections to
be won by a simple majority, the major ones agreed in the
later half of 2005 to form a new alliance party, NADD.
Although at first it seemed possible that this new party
would pose a strong, united opposition to face the APRC in
the Presidential election, there were constant internal
struggles and controversies over the nature of the alliance
and the selection of a flag-bearer. By February the two
major parties (UDP and NRP) had withdrawn from NADD, leaving
the alliance a shadow of its former self. Almost two months
before the election, there are three major parties contending
for the Presidency: APRC (President Jammeh),NADD (Sallah)
and an allied UDP/NRP (Darboe).


7. (C) DAS Thomas-Greenfield asked the opposition leaders in
separate meetings for their assessment as to why NADD
fragmented, and about the likelihood of victory without a
single, consensus opposition candidate. It was difficult to
get a clear answer from any of the candidates, but Darboe and
Bah gave the most frank response. Coming from The Gambia's
two largest opposition parties, they found it was a mistake
to ally in a five-party power sharing arrangement under NADD
that treated every party equally. Both men further stated
that the decision to establish NADD was made in accordance
with the wishes of their constituencies and with an eye to
the upcoming National Assembly elections. Now they report
making a strong effort to convince Halifa Sallah and NADD to
get behind Darboe as a candidate for the presidential
election. Sallah avoided discussing the prospects for such a
development, but the demeanor of all of the men indicated an
acute awareness that unless the opposition rallies around one
candidate prospects for a victory in September are slim.


8. (SBU) In the area of election support, opposition leaders
expressed a desire for the U.S. to encourage the government
to follow the norms established in the Memorandum of
Understanding signed by the parties in February. Nigerian
President Obasanjo brokered this MOU during a visit to The
Gambia, and it was suggested by the opposition leaders as
well as Bishop Johnson that the USG encourage the Nigerian
government to stay involved in keeping the election process
on track and in accordance with the MOU.


9. (C) COMMENT: The opposition leaders demonstrated a real
appreciation for the concern and interest that the USG is
demonstrating towards the upcoming elections, and were
honored by the opportunity to meet with a senior USG official
during her visit to The Gambia. Though funding was not
forthcoming for Embassy,s proposed ESF election support
program this year, post plans to use its limited DHRF funds
to provide a $25k grant to a regional NGO, West Africa
Network for Peace (WANEP),for training and mobilization of
civil society election observers. Furthermore, a team from
the National Democratic Institute (NDI) is planning to
implement a short program to train election observers from
the parties. Allegations of registration fraud are
widespread, but any substantive response or reaction on the
part of the government was not expected while it was
preoccupied with hosting the AU Summit. With the Summit in
the past, post will urge the GOTG to ensure that the
electoral registration abuses reported by the opposition are
halted and that the opposition is allowed to campaign freely
for votes in the upcoming contests.. END COMMENT.


10. (U) This cable was cleared by DAS Thomas-Greenfield.



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