By Seedy Jobe
Momodou Satou Dibba, the co-chair and interim chairperson of the Gambia First Coalition, accused President Adama Barrow this week of undermining the electoral process, after Mr. Barrow declared that his party’s alliance with the National People’s Party and the Gambia Democratic Congress had already reshaped the political landscape and would win in December.
In an interview with Kerr Fatou, Mr. Dibba said the president’s remarks amounted to desperation and reflected a disregard for constitutional procedure.
Elections, Mr. Dibba said, are a constitutional mechanism, and the president, as custodian of the Constitution, bears a duty to protect them. He argued that declaring a winner is the mandate of the Independent Electoral Commission, not the president.
“We have an independent electoral commission that is mandated to declare whether an election has been won or not,” Mr. Dibba said. “But you stood and said you have already won the election. He should leave that to the I.E.C. and to the Gambian people.”
He questioned what message such remarks send to the electoral commission and to the public, arguing that a president who claims victory before voting has even taken place puts pressure on election officials and signals that any other outcome will not be accepted.
Mr. Dibba said protecting the integrity of elections is among the president’s central responsibilities, and that by preempting the results, Mr. Barrow was failing in that duty and speaking in ways inconsistent with the Constitution.
He added that while citizens have no means of holding the president accountable for the remarks now, they will have that opportunity on election day.
“If I were him, I would not say that. There is desperation in it,” Mr. Dibba said. “Secondly, you are not protecting the integrity of your office.”
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