28 September | Ebrima SB Baldeh
On the face of it, the Gambia democracy transition were dented with false narratives and empty promises. Even though he rose on the peak of power of the Gambia presidency—most notably, president Barrow will be known as the most polemic president in nation’s history. “Those who hates you don’t win” were the exact words of president Nixon—during he’s watergate scandal—which, quite astonishingly—still regarded as one of the greatest scandals of any U.S presidency. Conversely, It would be fascinating to note how the political climate continues to get polarize between the UDP and president Barrow’s camp. In the context of political establishment, come next election would not only be a test of executive authority for president Barrow; arguably, might subject to a potential upheaval should the 1997 constitution repudiate the UDP party leader from his presidential ambition.
A lesson of all this is that the 2016 transition was meant to change the trajectory of the Gambia’s political paradigm; ostensibly, we haven’t shift our political mantra from the past. Democracy the profoundly good, is also the profoundly malignant—as has in the country’s political scene in recent.
To make the argument even more palatable, the observation I forsee is how the current wave of politics thus far a byproduct from the previous practices—under president Jammeh’s regime ( for example, clienism, the media freedom and censorship just to cite a few). The resurgence of political change is meaningless—when in large part, the aspiration of institutional reforms still a stumbling block.
Adding to this staggering stalemate, it has become intrinsically assailing to underscore how the collasal failure of the transitional dispensation further marginalises the collective will to a “utopian” blueprint. The subsequent political change that took effect in the late 2016 negate to address the growing pain of youth unemployment—which stands 15% per World Bank indicators, seemingly, objecting the reinstitutionalization of reform policies—since the inception of the democratic transition.
For now, an integral dynamic of the country’s political infrastructure has not yield devidense to the economic realities on the ground.
Editors Note:
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Ebrima SB Baldeh is a Political Science Scholar at Ohio University
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