Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BANJUL594
2006-09-26 18:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Banjul
Cable title:  

THE GAMBIA: OPPOSITION, OBSERVER REACTIONS TO

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM KMCA GA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0945
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHJL #0594/01 2691805
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 261805Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7000
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000594 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KMCA GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: OPPOSITION, OBSERVER REACTIONS TO
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

REF: A. BANJUL 589


B. BANJUL 588

BANJUL 00000594 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000594

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KMCA GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: OPPOSITION, OBSERVER REACTIONS TO
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

REF: A. BANJUL 589


B. BANJUL 588

BANJUL 00000594 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Presidential candidate Ousainou Darboe challenged the
results of the September 22 presidential election as a sham,
but nonetheless vowed to participate in the upcoming National
Assembly elections rather than boycott them, as in 2002.
Darboe acknowledged better behavior by the ruling APRC party
in this latest poll as compared to the previous contest in
2001, when he recounted, APRC supporters resorted to violent
provocations against the opposition. The election observer
groups, continuing their post-election discussions, reached
a consensus that President Jammeh's re-election September 22
was credible, but that the electoral process was marred by a
substantially skewed playing field -- which, in our view,
resulted in a margin of victory for Jammeh considerably
greater than a fairer contest would have produced. END
SUMMARY.

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE'S NEGATIVE ASSESSMENT
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador and Poloff met September 26 with the
leading opposition candidate in the September 22 Presidential
election, Ousainou Darboe of United Democratic Party (UDP),
in alliance with two smaller parties. Darboe, who finished
second in the polling with 27 percent of the vote to
President Yahya Jammeh's 67 percent (ref a),decried the
results of the contest. Darboe asserted that the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) had connived with Jammeh's ruling
APRC party to ensure his victory, citing the registration of
under-age and non-Gambian voters and the voting of soldiers
at polling sites where they were not registered as cases in
point. Portraying the electoral playing field as
considerably skewed in Jammeh's view, Darboe went on to speak
of, inter alia, pressure on local officials to "deliver" area
residents for Jammeh on polling day, the openly partisan
(pro-APRC) stance of military and security officials during
the campaigning, and the greater media coverage accorded

Jammeh as compared to the two opposition candidates. He
attributed the reduced voter turnout nationwide -- 59 percent
as compared to 87 percent in the previous 2001 contest -- to
what he portrayed as grass-roots level intimidation by APRC
elements. (COMMENT: While we do not rule out such
intimidation as a factor, our contacts say another likely
factor was the heavy rains that occurred in much of The
Gambia during the afternoon of the vote. We are also told
that some refrained from voting in the belief that Jammeh's
re-election was a foregone conclusion. END COMMENT)


3. (C) Summing up, Darboe said that he refused to accept
Jammeh's victory and that the UDP might go to court to
challenge the election result, maintaining that in a
genuinely free and fair election, he (Darboe),not Jammeh,
would have won. (COMMENT: We note that the other opposition
candidate, Halifa Sallah of the National Alliance for
Democracy and Development (NADD),who finished third with 6
percent of the vote, has announced his acceptance of the
election outcome, despite what he termed "anomalies" in the
voting process. END COMMENT) On a more positive note,
Darboe repeatedly asserted that he was not giving up on the
political process and that the UDP would participate in the
National Assembly elections scheduled for January 2007 as
well as the municipal elections set for the spring. (COMMENT:
The UDP boycotted the last National Assembly elections, held
in 2002 because of objections to the conduct of the 2001
Presidential election. END COMMENT)


4.(C) Asked to compare the 2006 presidential election with
its predecessor in 2001, Darboe did acknowledge improvement
in the APRC's behavior in the latest electioneering. He
stated that in 2001 APRC militants had resorted to violent
provocations against the opposition supporters, whereas they
had refrained from such conduct in the latest contest. Asked
why he had conceded victory to Jammeh in 2001 but was
unwilling to do so this time, Darboe responded that he had
been compelled to concede in the previous election, not out
of any conviction that Jammeh was the genuine victor, but
simply to appease the APRC and thereby forestall further
violence against UDP supporters.


CONSENSUS AMONG OBSERVERS
--------------


BANJUL 00000594 002.2 OF 002



5. (C) Meanwhile, in the election's aftermath, international
and domestic observer groups have continued their
discussions, with the IEC, Commonwealth reps, and UN reps
hosting meetings, attended by Ambassador, DCM, and Poloff.
The consensus emerging in these discussions is that Jammeh's
re-election was a credible result, but that the electoral
process was marred by various irregularities that need to be
addressed for the upcoming National Assembly contest. On
the positive side of the ledger, observers agreed that, for
the most part, polling officials performed competently, that
the secrecy of the ballot was assured, and that security
officials refrained from interfering in the voting process.


6. (C) The senior Commonwealth rep, former Tanzanian Prime
Minister and OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim,
reiterated his judgment that Jammeh's triumph "reflected the
people's will," but, in his preliminary written report,
referred to "abuse of incumbency" -- i.e., the considerable
skewing of the electoral playing field (refs a and b). Like
opposition candidate Darboe, Salim expressed particular
concern over the public pro-APRC stance of military and
security forces, not on election day itself, but during the
campaigning; he cited, as an example, the presence of a "Vote
for Jammeh" poster at a military barracks that he (Salim) had
visited. Observers generally concurred in Embassy reps'
assertion of under-age voters' presence at various sites
observed. A visiting UN electoral expert stressed the need
for greater autonomy by the IEC, and cited instances of
"neutral" local officials campaigning on Jammeh's behalf. As
for the various Gambian observer groups, they invariably
mentioned the APRC's much greater resources -- augmented by
the state -- as compared to the opposition, and made pleas to
the donor community for greater assistance to the IEC; they
also called on the GOTG to provide funds to all parties.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) We find no basis for challenging the observer
community's consensus that Jammeh's re-election was a
credible outcome of the September 22 polling, but believe
that the overall electoral process was marred by a
substantially skewed playing field -- that doubtless resulted
in a greater victory margin for Jammeh than a fairer contest
would have produced. We discount Darboe's claim that he
would have triumphed in a genuinely free and fair election;
by all accounts, according to, inter alia, Gambian sources
opposed to Jammeh, the division in opposition ranks resulting
from Darboe's departure from NADD some months ago ensured
the incumbent president's victory. Darboe's assurances that
the UDP will participate in the National Assembly elections
are good news, as there had been speculation that he might be
tempted to boycott these elections as in 2001 in protest over
the flawed Presidential electoral process. END COMMENT.

STAFFORD