This Saturday, legislative elections were held in The Gambia. A vote that does not excite the crowds, judging by the very low mobilization of the population.
With our correspondent in Banjul, Milan Berckmans
In front of the Bakau stadium and its polling station, a few kilometers from the capital, around twenty voters line up.
Among the first to vote, some explain the low attendance by the Ramadan period, but are hopeful that the other voters will arrive later in the day. ” Attendance is very low, but luckily people will come later “, announces a voter. ” As for participation, people will come and vote. It’s Ramadan, so some will come between 1 and 2 p.m. this afternoon “explains another.
But later in the afternoon, in a polling station in Fajara, the atmosphere is even calmer. Of its 664 registered, Isatou Bellabah, president of the polling station, has only 142 who voted. She tries to occupy herself. ” You find other things to do, documents to fill out, to waste less time waiting for the office to close “, she testifies.
On the side of Sukuta, a district acquired by the opposition party, the UDP, the reasons given are a little different. ” I didn’t want to vote, but my husband forced me to, because we don’t think it’s free and fair, and that’s why a lot of people don’t want to vote. “says a young woman.
According to sources within the Electoral Commission, turnout was not expected to exceed 40% when the polls closed at 5 p.m.
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