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FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6792
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP

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 
 
BANJUL 00000423  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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. 
 
--------------------------- 
VOTER REGISTRATION PROBLEMS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶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 
 
BANJUL 00000423  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
trend is reversed. 
 
------------------------ 
A FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION 
------------------------ 
 
¶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. 
 
 
 
STAFFORD