{"id":6970,"date":"2021-12-13T18:33:45","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T18:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow"},"modified":"2021-12-13T18:55:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T18:55:56","slug":"opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow","title":{"rendered":"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019<\/p>\n

Lamin Keita, a PhD political science fellow at Northwestern University in the US, has said that Gambian opposition parties urgently need restructuring or risk further empowering President Adama Barrow. President Barrow\u2019s National People\u2019s Party (NPP) claimed nearly 40 out of 53 constituencies in Saturday\u2019s poll, giving him a landslide.<\/p>\n

Sharing his perspective on the election Keita who comes from Foni Bajana, said the opposition must drastically change their communication machinery because this can be an effective tool in winning hearts and minds.<\/p>\n

Mr Keita added that the outcome of the election illustrates that journalists and researchers should focus on who wins elections from the voter registration to the counting process because \u201cthe ability to hold leaders to account is the main reason we value multiparty politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to change the way we look at elections and now pay attention to how they can drive controversy and change the focus of government policy \u2013 even in situations where the opposition never wins. Free and fair electoral process does not stop at counting, and we are missing the electoral wood if we only bank on the fairness of an election just at the counting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Keita said government patronage alone means that the opposition parties are fighting with \u201cone hand tied behind their back\u201d. \u201cIn addition, it becomes a dilemma and challenging to understand why the crowd pulled by the major opposition like UDP did not translate into equitable votes. This is the central point of inquiry for any political scientist to delve into this saga. What are the missing points? What went wrong?,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Marble system Keita said The Gambia should eliminate the archaic marble system of voting because \u201cif electoral manipulation were a sport, the marble system would be the Olympic champion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, Gambia\u2019s elections can profoundly affect Barrow\u2019s policy even when he always wins. Still, it is ultimately for Barrow and any other opposition to understand that staying in power is far easier and cheaper if you get some votes legitimately,\u201d he said. International community<\/p>\n

Keita revealed that it is interesting to consider whether international attention has less of an impact now on the conduct of elections in The Gambia. \u201cIt may be that the influence of outsiders is waning and that could be as a result of shifting interests and changing priorities among otherwise influential foreign governments and the weakening influence of international organisations. It is easier for incumbents to call the international community\u2019s bluff these days,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Keita alleged that there was massive exploitation of resources during the election. \u201cThere should be a campaign finance regulatory mechanism in this country because, in the future, only ordinary people will pay the price of this massive exploitation of their resources. What is most striking about this example of campaign finance is that it escapes public accountability. There is a shred of more robust evidence that anonymous donors of elections can shape government policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. \u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019 Lamin Keita, a PhD political science fellow at Northwestern University in the US, has said that Gambian opposition parties urgently need restructuring or risk further empowering President Adama Barrow. President Barrow\u2019s National People\u2019s Party (NPP) claimed nearly 40 out of 53 constituencies in Saturday\u2019s poll, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[3188,2355,2361,3187,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-6970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-policy","10":"tag-opposition-2","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-gambia","14":"tag-gambia"},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019 - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019 Lamin Keita, a PhD political science fellow at Northwestern University ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019 Lamin Keita, a PhD political science fellow at Northwestern University ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-13T18:33:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-13T18:55:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61b79720661c3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-13T18:33:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-13T18:55:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\"},\"wordCount\":519,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61b79720661c3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"\u2018OPPOSITION\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"BARROW\u2019\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/opposition-must-restructure-or-fall-to-barrow\",\"name\":\"\u2018OPPOSITION MUST RESTRUCTURE OR FALL TO BARROW\u2019 - 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